Can I just endorse Christian Greinacher's comment concerning the
Sankyo 20 note manivelles.  These are delightful little instruments,
are well tuned, and entirely suited to the hobbyist.  The movements
have certain limitations in that the notation is scale C with two
full octaves from middle C at the bass to A in the third octave.

I have just made an automaton using the Sankyo movement as the source
of music, played on an endless strip.  The belt-driven manivelle
automaton also drives the Sankyo movement.  This is achieved by
removing the little winding handle and substituting a small pulley
wheel.

I wanted to programme 'Greensleeves' but this was impossible as there
are no sharps or flats.  Again, this is easy to achieve by removing
and retuning the comb.  The comb is very robust and teeth are widely
spaced.  Bass notes have integral steel weights.

Notes that repeat at intervals of more than that accommodated by each
turn of a star wheel may need two notes tuned to the same pitch.  My
manivelle now has two D's, two F's, a C-sharp and an F-sharp.  It took
about 20 minutes to retune against a piano, using a mini-drill fitted
with a small grinding disc.

Damping is conventional, by means of small plastic quills.  Grinding
at the tips, i.e. to lower the pitch of a tooth, needs either a bit of
coolant or, alternatively, remove the damper first with a sharp knife.
Of course, once tuned this way, it imposes another set of musical
limitations for other arrangements.

A major problem with Sankyo is getting hold of their pre-printed
strips.  They are both short in supply and rather short in length.
I make mine out of good quality 100-gauge art card (not the glossy
type, though) but it is a tedious job.  Joining strips with Selotape
can also cause problems as the drive mechanism can skid on the shiny
tape surface.  Overlap gluing also causes hang-ups.  I solve this
problem by 'feathering' the glued ends, using PVA, so that there is
little change in thickness at the joint.

Happy arranging, folks.

Paul Bellamy