Hi All,  Have you ever heard a word in your field of expertise that
you were not familiar with?  It seems everyone around you knows the
word, and the meaning, but you don't.  It is like you were sick at home
one day while everybody else learned the word.

For the last three years I have been building and designing small
barrel organs.  In that time I have come across several types of
bellows.  On one type of bellows the cloth is glued around the lip of
the top and bottom board.  This type of bellows is easy to understand
and to build.  Now the type bellows that came out the day I was home
sick!  The bellows cloth is glued to the edge of the bottom board and
then it seems to just end on the top board.  Side views don't help nor
do color pictures.

After seeing Todd Augsburger's roller organ web page I became inspired.
I set out to build a new organ called "Son of Cob".  A cob organ uses
two large exhauster bellows on its bottom.  The only thing that was
stopping my design was it had my favorite type of bellows.  I came up
with a work-around, but how these simple bellows were made still
bothered me.

I decided to email Todd and ask him how the bellows were glued in
place.  Todd came back with a complete description on how to glue the
bellows.  I went over his answer several times.  I was still lost...
Glue it to where?  Then I decided to email Todd one of my design
drawings.  In the drawing I drew my work-around idea, so Todd could
better understand my problem.

Todd came back with a great drawing of the bellows section used on a
cob organ.  Todd very clearly drew out how the bellows was glued in
place along with the words, "kerf cut into base".  There it was right
in front me, the answer to all my questions.  It still took me several
minutes to understand what I was looking at!

Now for all of you who were home sick the same day as me, here it is!
A kerf is a slot made with a saw.  It is cut around the face of the
bellows board just back from the edge.  The bellows is glued into this
slot.  This is why the cloth just seems to be growing out of the board.

My thanks to Todd Augsburger!  Without his help I would still be
baffled.

John Kleinbauer