I think it was my glowing reports of Santoprene a few years back that
first alerted MMD people to the usefulness of the product.  I would
like to make two points.

First of all, it was through the MMDigest that I first became aware
of Santoprene.  When Jim Harper and I bought the remains of what is
now our fine (fully restored) Decap/Mortier Dance Organ (see and hear
it on YouTube listed under Decap) from an auction in Sydney Australia,
we sought about for suitable tubing and I placed a plaintive plea on
the MMD.  One reply only resulted.

It was a cheerful, helpful, positive offer from a fellow named Colin
MacKinnon, which is the second point -- he was not known to us at the
time.  Colin was the owner of a plastic fabricating plant in Sydney,
a collector (of military equipment) and had been present at the
auction, although he did not meet Jim who had travelled to Australia
for the sale.

We accepted Colin's most generous offer to supply Santoprene at
a friendly price and a happy deal was done.  The Santoprene was and
is perfect for the job and some of the surplus material was used by
Jim in the rebuild of his superb Gasparini Street Organ (soon to
feature on YouTube).  I met with Colin twice in Australia, once in
company with Jim at a gathering of AMOS (Australian Mechanical Organ
Society.  Can't quite remember but I hope I bought him a beer.

So it rather looks as though the wheel has turned again, or there is
a circle in a circle or something.  Santoprene is being praised, and
rightly so.  Colin told me once that one of the products his company
made was an airtight burial casket.  The seal is made of Santoprene
and, as Colin said, it carried a "more-than-lifetime" warranty.

Colin MacKinnon left us some time ago.  He was one of the good guys.
Thanks, Colin; thanks MMD.

Michael Woolf

New Zealand

 [ Read Colin MacKinnon's lively MMD articles, indexed at
 [ http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Authors/Aut1554.html
 [ -- Robbie