Bruce Brockett asks about using a single center board for the bellows
in the Busker organ.  It would be difficult to construct the bellows
and get the cloth in place at the center.

I know of people who have made the two bellows and then fixed them
to a wide board and then attached the reservoir.  Obviously the design
presents itself as wrong to some people but built as shown it ends up
a perfectly strong and reliable part of the organ.

It has been interesting over the years to learn about what people have
done while building organs from my plans.  It would seem that a lot of
the builders like to do their own thing and can not resist changing
things, like the number of variations on the spill valve I have seen,
for example.  I would admit that, had I been building my first organ
from the plans, I would certainly have wanted to change things because
that is how I am.

A couple of years ago an American builder phoned me in desperation
regarding the organ he was building.  There was a problem with the spill
valve -- could I spare him a couple of minutes?  Certainly!

After about ten minutes it transpired that he had fitted a sort of
steam engine safety valve arrangement, so that was cleared up.  Could
I spare a few more minutes?

Well, after half an hour he had told me of all the other parts that he
had "put right," finally admitting that he did this with all the things
he made.  I think a lot of us practical people are like this.

The fact is that the Busker design is now a well proven one.  It was
based on years of my own experimentation and a lifetime of making
things simply but reliably.  I have updated the plans over the years
to take into account mainly the sort of things that I have found people
want to change.  Model engineers will find lots of things in the organ
that can be made from metal rather than wood, and woodworkers can have
a field day, but remember to stick to the way it shows to build the
basic organ parts.

There are some really beautiful amateur-built organs out there.  In fact,
at last year's leading model engineering exhibition in the UK, organs
took the top prizes.  Why not enter yours in this years exhibition!

More and more it seems to me that the future for the real art of
building small organs -- and I do not mean programming a machine to
churn out the parts -- lies in the hands of the amateurs.

If you are fortunate enough to visit the Great Dorset Steam Fair this
year make sure you call in to the Amateur Organ Builders marquee where
we will have a lineup of really nice organs.

John Smith
Flitwick, UK