my organ is done!

my organ is done!

Wow! It's been a long, fun journey! This evolved from a Spring Break project into a Spring Break + one week project. Fortunately, TC Maker is open 24 hours per day, seven days a week!

Read the whole series here:

new organ - tate
a life observed

the music rack

I saved this for last because I had no idea if it would turn out well.

I started with a live edge plank of local elm:

I planed it, and cut it down to size:

I made the pieces to hold it on:

And I finally glued the whole thing together. I think it came out quite well. One of the guys at the makerspace had this to say:

That, sir, is frighteningly awesome!

finishing

There's not much to report here: First, I took the whole organ apart (which, thanks to some nifty engineering tricks, is pretty easy to do). After that, I coated it with a very nice natural finishing wax.

hauling

I had three wonderful friends who took time out of their Sunday afternoon to help me get this monster home. I am forever indebted to them!

Even with their help, this was one of the most nerve-wracking drives I've ever taken. I have never since been so aware of every bump and incline in the road.

Again, thanks to engineering, the whole organ disassembles so the important parts can ride in the back seat.

final setup

Finally, I plugged everything in and played my first notes. Shockingly, everything worked on the first try and this saga is complete!

closing thoughts

This is possibly my favorite project ever!

Special thanks go to Tim who built the bench and gave me lots of advice. Also to Nana for funding a good chunk of the project and enabling me to start this long journey of organ building. Delyse (one of my favorite puzzle solvers) has been invaluable throughout the entire process for both manual labor and creative direction. Levi, Kevin, and Josiah spent hours helping me load and move the thing. To the guys at the makerspace who put up with me for the two weeks this organ sat in storage: you're the best! Finally, to my roommate who's tolerated (and supported) up to three organs in the apartment at once, thank you from the depths of my heart.



subscribe to get email updates and support my work

Click the link below or the subscribe button at the bottom of the page to support my work and get an email every time I make a new post!

tate
A website. Helps you keep up with Tate!