In a message dated 96-06-08 00:34:22 EDT, Phil Jamison writes:

> restoring fairground organ facades? For instance, my Gasparini
> facade is quite warped.
> so I wonder now if I should replace it with a plywood base or use
> glued-up solid lumber as was the original.  To this, I'd glue the
> original carvings.  Any thoughts?

Phil,

It would be most authentic to use the glued up lumber if that were
possible.  Today, however, it is sometimes hard to obtain lumber of the
same widths that were available at the turn of the century. Boards are
cut from smaller trees and the widest boards are no longer available.
Since the backing for the facade is almost always filled and painted,
it will not be noticeable at all what the material is that was used. I
faced this same problem and in the end used solid core birch laminate.
It is much better quality than any grade of plywood that I could get
around here. The biggest drawback is the cost. The last time I checked
a 4 x 8 sheet of 3/4" birch solid core was about $54 per sheet. It
provides an extremely fine surface to work with, the edges finish very
well and it stays flat, even better than plywood. Bottom line, use
glued up lumber if you can find it and if you can keep it flat.
Otherwise, try the solid core birch. Just my personal opinion.

As a point of further interest, the carvings on my Wilhelm Bruder Sohne
organ (German) were screwed on from behind and not much, if any, glue
was used.

Bob conant