Bonjour à tous!  I need a brand new "La Fayette, nous voilà!" [*],
as I wish a hand to restore an American organette which you are
supposed to know much better than we do over here in France.  And
I am sure you do...  This organette is quite scarce here.  It is
a hand-operated 22-notes Autophone manufactured by Autophone Co.,
Ithaca, New York.

The bellows need to be recoated but, unfortunately, the spring inside
the hand-operated bellows is missing and I do not know what was its
strength.  Could anyone help?  Don't rip your bellows open!

I have no problem with the shape of this spring as it has left prints
on the wood.  It is made of two curved springs riveted in the shape of
a V.

The choice of the springs strength is probably not that precise as
this bellows has nothing to do with making the correct air pressure to
feed the reeds.  Its purpose is only to give the quickest air filling
compatible with a smooth handling.  We could... I mean _you could_
probably find the good strength in this manner:

- Lay the Autophone with the hand operated bellows on top.

- Put some weights, centered, on the very moving edge of this bellow.

- Note the weight that makes the bellows begin to collapse.

That's all, I think.  It would be great if someone could help.

Regards from France,
Jean Nimal

*[ "Lafayette, we are here."  Uttered in France by Colonel Charles E.
 [ Stanton, at the tomb of American-Revolutionary War General Marquis
 [ de La Fayette, in a speech on the Fourth of July, 1917, that clearly
 [ was recognizing the debt America owed France for her help in 1776.
 [ Stanton's words signaled the arrival of leading elements of the U.S.
 [ Army, newly engaged in the deadly struggle of the Allies against the
 [ Central Powers in the First World War.
 [
 [ "What we have of blood and treasure are yours," Stanton intoned.
 [ "In the presence of the illustrious dead, we pledge our hearts and
 [ our honor in carrying the war to a successful conclusion."  And then
 [ the final line of his speech, "Lafayette, we are here!"
 [
 [ Ref. http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/AD_Issues/amdipl_16/edit16_print.html 
 [ where you can also read about the famed Lafayette Escadrille, a French
 [ pursuit squadron of expatriate American pilots.  -- Robbie