A few weeks ago Don Teach mentioned a series of articles I wrote on the
construction of the Wurlitzer unit valve that are posted on the Yahoo
Wurlitzer 105 Group site.  From the emails I have received as a result
of Don's posting, the articles seem to have a wider interest.  As a
result I have submitted these articles to Robbie for posting on the MMD
Archives site for those who are interested.

These files are in the Adobe Acrobat format called Portable Document
Format, or PDF files.  PDF files allow documents created in any
application on any operating system on any computer to be shared and
read on any other computer without having the application that created
it.

I should have joined the earlier thread on publishing mechanical
music information because I think PDF files are a good way to document
and share information.  They are a kind of electronic book but without
the cost of printing or mailing.  Content can be created in virtually
any software application and then converted to the PDF file.  With a
digital camera and the ever easier to use document creation software
packages that are available, creating your own articles is getting to
be very quick and easy.  I use Microsoft Visio Professional to create
everything I do, including the CAD drawings.

The PDF reader is free to download from the Adobe web site but most
computers come with the reader already installed.  It works equally
well for both Macs and PCs.  Many computer applications are beginning
to add the PDF conversion capability directly to the application.  PDF
files can be downloaded and stored and organized on computers, shared
as email attachments with others, printed if a hard copy is desired,
and opened in a browser like any web page.  It eliminates the need to
have my own web site and learning to program material on the site.

If you want to create PDF files you do have to buy the Adobe Acrobat
application program if your application doesn't have it built in, but
there are sites that will allow you to create one for free with certain
limitations.  Another advantage of PDF conversion is the compression
ability of PDF file creation that will greatly reduce the size of the
final file making storage and emailing easier and more convenient.  For
example, Part 1 in the series on the Unit Valve has 20 pictures, two
pages of drawings, and a total of 9 pages but its total file size is
smaller than the average file size of a single picture.

Another advantage is the ability of PDF files to support very
dimensionally accurate drawings.  I make paper templates that I draw
using a Visio and then use these to lay out projects or use them to
create router templates, or various setup guides that greatly simplify
construction.  Using the PDF format, drawings can be virtually any size
and created in any CAD or drawing application.

As an example, I have a full sized template for laying out the channels
of the Wurlitzer 105 Wind Chest that is 18" wide by over 3 feet long.
This template is accurate to less than 1/32" over its longest dimension
which is almost 3 feet.  Obviously few people have a printer that will
print something that big but places like Kinko's do and all you have to
do is give them a disk with the file on it. The PDF file of the
template makes it very easy to share drawings and tracings with others.

Bob Humes

 [ Thanks, Bob, I'll place the PDF documents at the MMD Tech site,
 [ http://mmd.foxtail.com/Tech/  -- Robbie