Reed Organ Repair: A generic approach (5)

You are now ready to begin work on the exhausters. Take a moment to review your notes, to be sure you have all the details of how they are covered well established. You will, of course, replace the hinge if there is *any* doubt about its remaining longevity. And you will replace the inside valves. They are usually held by three carpet tacks at each end. If held in any other manner, follow the example that's before you.

DO NOT forget to put in the inside valves before covering the exhausters! They do not work well (at all!) without those inside valves. (Don't laugh - even I have made this mistake).

Recall that I mentioned earlier the three types of exhauster coverings: I will treat here only the most common sort, which is a single piece of rubber cloth with inside ribs. These are tricky enough, though the type consisting of hinged ribs and gussets is trickier! Get advice on doing that kind!

Using the old covering which you removed earlier as a guide, along with the measurements in your notes, cut a strip of rubber cloth: remember to cut this oversize, (wider) so that at the end of application you can trim off the excess neatly. Cutting a piece to fit *exactly* is impossible.

Lay this piece of rubber cloth out on a flat surface, rubber-side down: use masking tape at ends and edges to hold it straight and flat. Find the exact center of this piece, and make a heavy pencil line across the piece. Using your measurements and the old piece to guide you, make another pencil line the full length of the piece. This mark may not be exactly in the middle: the critical distance accounts for the material that will be glued to the divider board, *not* the movable board. Now measure the width of the movable board, and make two more cross-wise pencil lines half that width away from the center line in each direction.

To make new card-board ribs, use the old ones as templates. Almost any heavy card-board (*not* corrugated!) will do: artist's board works well. The ribs may be single piece, with a fold in their middles, or they may be separate pieces hinged together with a piece of leather. If the latter, apply the leather strips using hot glue, with the two halves of the rib facing each other, not flat! Let this joint set up well.

Next, lay out the ribs on the cloth, using your pencil marks and the old parts as a guide. The ribs fold on the length-wise center-line; the middle ribs are centered with respect to the marks for the ends of the movable board, and the side ribs are placed using the old ones as a guide. Place a small weight to hold each rib in place, and mark the position of each with a dark pencil. Write numbers or letters on the various parts and the corresponding position on the cloth, then set the ribs aside briefly.

I find it helpful to next tape off the areas *out*side the pencil tracings with ordinary masking tape. This helps prevent getting glue in spots where you don't want it. Have ready also some flat boards which will cover the ribs, and some fairly heavy weights: bricks, old window weights, whatever, and have your glue hot and ready. Working quickly, apply a coat of glue to the cloth *and* to the glue-face of the prepared ribs, and drop them into place. Put a board over them and stack up some weights, taking care *not* to shift the ribs as you do so. The glue is not set, and is a good lubricant, so it's easy to make this mistake!

All of the above must be done twice, of course. By the time the second cover has its ribs in place, the glue will have begun to set on the first. When all the ribs are in place and the glue has begun to set, remove the masking tape. Then stack the two covers, weight them down well, and leave them overnight.

The next day, the process of wrapping the exhausters actually begins. The approach is similar to doing the reservoir, with a few minor changes. You may need to prop one movable board open to give easier access to the one you are working on. Fold the cover and insert it between the two parts of one exhauster, center it carefully. A weight on the cover helps hold things. Then, glue the cover in place along the fixed divider board. Work this joint down well, and apply any wood strips that may have been over the cloth. Next, apply glue to the end of the exhauster cover, and pull the cloth up into position, leaving the ends to "flop around": the correct position of the cloth allows space for the rib to lie flat on the inside when the exhauster is closed. It is possible, if this joint is made with the exhauster open, to pull this joint up too tight, which makes the exhauster want to stay open: avoid this! There will be excess cloth, to be trimmed later on. Work this joint down well, and be sure the glue has begun to set up thoroughly before proceeding. A *single* small tack near the end on each side may facilitate your work. (See Note 3). Apply wood strips now, if
there are any.

It should be obvious that the sides of this exhauster will be covered next, by applying glue to requisite surfaces and pulling the cover into place carefully, avoiding breaking the ribs away from the cloth. Depending on just how close together the two exhausters are, you will need to have some wooden "spatulas" to help you work the inner joint down. If there's room for it, a wall-paper roller helps, too. As usual, take off squeezed-out glue with a damp rag. Using the wood strip (or an equivalent) as a guide, trim off excess cloth on the divider board only; leave the "tails" for last, and proceed to cover the second exhauster. The only trick here is to work the center portion of the cover into place, given that the adjacent exhauster is already covered. Don't worry, it *can* be done, and if you work slowly and methodically, it can be done neatly, just as it was originally. Install any wood strips over the cloth as you move along. 

When the second cover is in place, you can return to the "tails" of the first, trimming and working them into place using your notes as a guide; a *few* strategically-placed *small* carpet tacks may help, but be careful to drive these into wood, not the flexible portion of the joint or the hinge. (See Note 3). When all the tails are tucked, the final seal strips that usually over-lie them can be glued on: leave these over-wide, and when *all* the glue is fairly well set up, trim off all the excess cloth using the *fresh* razor-blade technique.

Now stand back and admire your handiwork, and have a beer or "cuppa": if possible, leave the work to dry and set up overnight.

Note 3: (From the tacks collector) Small carpet tacks (#1 or smaller) to help hold rubber-cloth in place are useful: once the glue sets up, they are superfluous, but they're usually left in place. But if you need a *row* of tacks, you're doing something wrong! (I once removed well over a hundred tacks, including thumb-tacks, from a 10" x 10" exhauster on a M&H "Baby". Whatever glue they tried to use didn't "take", so tacks were relied upon, with predictably bad results.)

Continued in part 6.

Revised 01/2001; Copyright 2001 James B. Tyler