The article on making Wurlitzer windchests was most instructive.
Should anyone desire to make his own chests for his residence organ,
I would certainly suggest that before copying the Wurlitzer chest,
the builder should investigate the Kilgen unit chest design.
It has no primary valve, the magnet exhausts the pouch directly with
only a tiny boring necessary for the connection between the underside
of the pouch and the magnet port. The pouch pulls down a short length
of stiff wire that has the poppet valve on the other end.
There is also a guide rail between the pouch and the valve under the
pipe hole. When the bottom board of the chest is removed, the entire
action comes with it, guide rail and valves. It is very easy to
measure the height of all the valve faces when the bottom board is
down, making adjustment a snap.
The Kilgen chest is actually faster than the Wurlitzer chest with
primary valves. This has been tested by various organ builders many
times in the recent past. It will actually repeat faster than any
other chest.
The hybrid organ at Mundeline Collage (sp?) that John Sang recorded
has these chests. He verified the speed of the Kilgen chest.
Jim Crank
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