TOM THUMB REPAIR                                                       PART 8

As 2017 progressed, the Tom Thumb Player Piano lost it's enthusiasm and by the time we closed for the season, it was ready to be worked on.

Some jobs just hate to be finished.   After the unglued action was fixed, tuning was the next step.  While tuning, we broke a treble string.   While replacing it, we undid the wrong mating string, so we ended up replacing 2 strings.    Then at the bottom end of the scale, we broke a wound bass string, so we had to order a new one, made as a duplicate from Schaff.

In order to install it, we had to take the pump out to get at the bottom anchor point.   Then it turned out that the tuning pin would not hold, so it had to be removed and the hole shimmed.

Well, it is back together now, ready for final tuning.   Of course, we might break another string doing that.

                                         TOM THUMB REPAIR                           PART 7


As 2017 progressed, the Tom Thumb Player Piano lost it's enthusiasm and by the time we closed for the season, it was ready to be worked on.

There has been a small leak in the shutoff valve which I could not find.    The back cover which holds the pouch has been modified and has motor cloth patches on the back, so I decided to make a new section.   The center of the photo shows the old pouch holder.    The right side shows the new part before cutting it to size.

There will be no unexplained leaks through the wood after we seal it.

                                        TOM THUMB REPAIR                                                PART 6

As 2017 progressed, the Tom Thumb Player Piano lost it's enthusiasm and by the time we closed for the season, it was ready for some help.

You will remember when we took the pumps out to check them, we found a piece of a piano action in the bottom of the case.    Well it is time to fix that.   In order to do so, the piano action has to be removed and in order to get to it, the player piano roll drive section has to come out.;

With the roll drive out, the piano action can be removed for the needed repair.   The rest of the key striking mechanism is removed and the unglued part can be glued back in place.

Then the parts are reassembled and a few other checks are made and the piano action is reinstalled in the piano.

                                                      TOM THUMB REPAIR                    PART 5

As 2017 progressed, the Tom Thumb Player Piano lost it's enthusiasm and by the time we closed for the season, it was ready for some help.

Well, we have all the pump sections checked and repaired as necessary.

The gaskets are glued where the joints come, replacing the silicon sealer used in the last repair.   This is a more conventional method, but will probably not seal any better.   It will however make the job easier for the next person

After the dry fit and repair of a few stripped screws, the pump is reassembled and ready for putting on the auxiliary control parts.

                                         TOM THUMB REPAIR                    PART 4


As 2017 progressed, the Tom Thumb Player Piano lost it's enthusiasm and by the time we closed for the season, it was ready for some help.

Well, removing the pump section damaged the bottom board because of the way it was firmly glued to the frame, so we made a new part and prepared to recover the section.

After duplicating the original hinge section, we have the section ready to recover.

Our intent is to use a more conventional gasket and screw the attachment to the frame.  So that the next person will not have the issues we faced, the gasket will be glued to the bottom of the pump section.

                                              TOM THUMB REPAIR                         PART 3


As 2017 progressed, the Tom Thumb Player Piano lost it's enthusiasm and by the time we closed for the season, it was ready for some help.

We seem to be short of air, so the box pump was removed for checking.   It seemed weak, so further disassembly for more detailed checks was started.

The last repair involved gluing the individual pumps to the frame, rather than a more conventional gasket system.   A cork gasket was firmly glued on both sides, which caused a lot of trouble getting the pump loose and damaged the bottom of the pump, so we had to make some new parts and rebuild the pump.

                                       TOM THUMB REPAIR                          PART 2


As 2017 progressed, the Tom Thumb Player Piano lost it's enthusiasm and by the time we closed for the season, it was ready for some help.

After removing the box pump, we found a piano action part in the bottom of the case.

A little checking identified it as coming from this note.

The fix will be easy as the part has just come unglued and is not broken.   The challenge is that in order to get the piano action out, we have to remove all the upper player parts.   The piano needs to be tuned, so that will be done when the player parts are out.

Just another of those small jobs that grows as you progress.

                                            TOM THUMB REPAIR        PART I


As 2017 progressed, the Tom Thumb Player Piano lost it's enthusiasm and by the time we closed for the season, it was barely playing.

In February of 2018, we moved it to the office, where we had some heat and started looking for the problem .   The first check was the box pump.   It sits in the bottom of the case.

We removed it and started checking.   With all the inlets blocked, it could be turned with almost no resistance, indicating a leak or maybe several leaks.   So disassembly was started to allow the four sections to be individually checked.

Future installments will tell you what we found.

                                                          MAKING AN ORCHESTRION 
                                                                                PART 3


The piano we chose for this project is a 1909 Weber.   Having rebuilt the stack and having gotten it properly fitted in the case, the next issue is placing the other items and instruments.

We think this will be the way the top shelf will be arranged.   The wood block in the form of a pecking bird goes on the left.   The bass drum goes next, then the roll drive and last is the tambouring and snare drum combination.

The xylophone goes in the bottom and there is not much room left for anything else.   We have not yet found a home for the triangle.

                                                    MAKING AN ORCHESTRION
                                                                      PART 2


The piano we chose for this project is a 1909 Weber.   Having rebuilt the stack and having gotten it properly fitted in the case, the next issue is replacing the other items and instruments.

The roll drive has to go on the top of the stack, but how we place the other items is more flexible.   We have a tambourine, triangle, a wood block in the form of a bird, bass drum, soft pedal pneumatic and mandolin rails & its pneumatic.    The xylophone fills the bottom of the case, so not much room is left there.

It will take some time to sort this all out.

                                                         MAKING AN ORCHESTRION
                                                                             PART 1

We have a few player pianos that have not been restored and decided to make an orchestrion out of one of them.    First we removed the player parts and fixed whatever problems existed with the piano action.

The next step was to rebuild the stack, eliminating the pneumatics not needed for the 66 playing notes  to be controlled by the O Roll we had decided to use and substituting connections for additional functions.

We obtained a Ragtime roll drive and now we are ready to start assembly.