[ In reply to "Calliope Blower Needed", 981018 MMDigest ]

Mr. Boulet,  I rebuilt one of these a number of years ago.  They are
a lot of fun to rebuild and to play.  What you have here is probably a
Tangley CA-43, the most popular and most common model.  Wurlitzer made
some as well but not in as great a number.

The unit is designed to operate at only 1 pound of pressure, but at
tremendous volume, specifically 100 CFM (Cubic feet per minute).  If
the blower is missing here is what I would suggest -- and it works
extremely well:

Shop around your local "high performance" auto supplies.  What you are
looking for is an engine blower, the type that mounts on top of racing
engines to force air into the intake.  This type of blower is called a
"Roots pump", I assume named after it's inventor, and is very similar
to that originally used on the Tangley.

What it amounts to is two rotating vanes with a half-twist.  They
are coupled together with a gear which then causes them fold into
each other while rotating -- really kind of an interesting piece of
engineering.  This device will likely be quite expensive as it is a
hefty piece of hardware, but you don't need a new one.  The one that
I used was made in the 1950's.  Ask around for something like this and
you might find a bargain.

Next you will need to find a local welder to build you a frame out of
heavy stock to mount both the engine and the blower.  I used a 7 HP
single cylinder Briggs & Stratton engine which worked just fine.  If I
remember correctly I used a 4" pulley on the engine and a 5" pulley on
the blower with a 3/4" width belt.  This ratio seemed to work perfectly.

In addition I installed an idler pulley that pivoted to add or take
away tension on the belt.  This was then connected to a remote lever
via a cable which could be engaged and locked, thus acting as a clutch.
The result is that you could start the engine without having the blower
turning making starting much easier particularly if the engine is
reluctant to run.

You will need your welder to construct a manifold for the out-take of
the blower.  This will be nothing more than a piece of plate steal with
holes which mate with the mounting bolts on the bottom of the blower.
A hole in the middle will have a piece of 3" elbow pipe welded and
angled so that it passes through the side of the engine/blower mounting
frame.  From there you will only need a piece of long flexible 3" hose
to connect the blower to the intake of the calliope.  You will also need
to get creative in adding some kind of filter for the intake so that
that you won't be pumping dirt through the blower and into the
calliope.

If this calliope operates automatically from a music roll you will also
need to add some sort of intake manifold to share with the filter to
supply the suction to the pneumatics.  Because this blower is so
powerful I would suggest that your suction feed be designed to take
only a fractional amount of the blower intake.  You will also need to
build a regulator pneumatic to control the flow designed with a bleed
hole to take in outside air when the suction is too strong.

As for the engine and blower noise, I built a nice housing around the
entire assembly which was incorporated into the design of the wagon the
calliope was mounted on.  I lined the interior with "sound board", a
type of material that construction workers use to sound-proof walls.
I then routed the engine exhaust outside the box using 3/4" pipe, (the
same size normally used on the stock muffler), which then expanded to
3" pipe under the wagon and into an automobile muffler.

Likewise I modified the engine intake to enter through the floor of the
wagon.  In this configuration the system made surprisingly little noise,
and thus did not detract from the calliope.  A large door on the front
opened for maintenance.

You should also add a couple vents through the box arranged so that
they line up with the in/out of the engine's internal cooling fan.
I used large home air ducts which look decent from the outside once
painted.  I also added one small vent on top.  Finally, I relocated
the fuel tank away from the engine, not only for safety but for easier
access, and with a shut/off valve.

I realize that I've gotten pretty detailed here but I thought it might
help if I gave you the whole big picture.  I wish you well and have
fun, these are great machines!

Rob Goodale, RPT