Years ago,  I started to make a perforator to make Wurlitzer Style
165 type music rolls.  At the time I was working with web fed printers,
that took 'webs' of paper, which is what the rolls of blank paper are
called.

Punches are available from a company called Ross Punch.  This is the
simplest item to acquire.  I ordered several hundred.  The die is more
difficult.  This has to be made by a master machinist, one with a lot
of experience making precise steel parts that are hardened and tempered.
The dimensions need to be exact even after the heat hardening treatment.

There are roll editing punch machines out there.  The Leabarjan is
probably what you would want.  This is a single punch-and-die machine,
although it's usually set up for standard piano roll hole spacing
rather than the Wurlitzer spacing.  You would have to fit new plates
with the proper Wurlitzer spacing.

Were I to do this over, I would start with the paper transport -- the
part that precisely moves the paper.  At least three sheets are needed
as the top and bottom sheets are discarded.  Keeping the paper aligned
is tricky.

Regarding paper, I have a collector friend who did the machining on
my 20-note busker organ.  He recently asked if I knew anyone that was
interested in paper slitting.  I'm not sure if he actively reads the
MMD.  I do know that the recommended paper is for chart recorders.
For my busker organ I have been getting rolls of the green masking
paper sold at Home Depot for paint masking.  I have also seen this in
a maroon color.  It is not as waxy as the original paper.  I have used
this paper at the Dickens Fair and other fairs, playing the rolls on
a continual basis for hours at a time without problems.

Most small operators split the paper themselves.  While I was not
successful with making a Wurlitzer punch, I have made the small rolls
for my 20-note busker organ.  The best way to split the paper is with
a band saw, while the paper is still in the web.  A belt sander is then
used to true the edge.  I'm sure if this would work for the larger webs
needed for the Style 165 rolls.

I was more successful making rolls for my 20-note busker organ.  Using
a sheet of glass and an X-acto knife, I was able to use the "Midiboek"
noteur program to print the templates first.  I found if I stapled the
templates to the paper I was able to align them better.  This was
something Mike Kitner did.  Unlike tape or glue, the staples slide so
that each template can be twisted to align to the other.  The small
hole spacing of the Style 165 rolls makes this knife method
impractical.

Mike Kitner used a kick press to make Style 165 rolls.  I have one of
his master rolls.  There are about 60,000 to 100,000 holes, which was
an evenings work for Mike's mother or sister.  Punching by hand is
probably equivalent to knitting or embroidery.  Using a knife takes me
about an hour to cut a foot of music for the 20-note scale.

My machinist friend was going to help me make a simple Leabarjan punch.
We got as far as slitting a steel block I had.  This was slit to the
width to make a Style 165 roll.  Since then he has been too busy and
the project stalled.

There are at least three concerns who can manufacture Style 165 music
rolls: Play-Rite, Hershel Carousel Museum (HCM) and Valley Forge Music
Rolls.  The latter uses a laser cutter to perforate rolls.  HCM has
most of the post-1939 Wurlitzer master rolls and can make limited
copies as the equipment is kept in working order.  Play-Rite is making
most of the newer rolls that you see advertised on-line.

One also has to consider boxes and cores for storing the rolls.  The
cores are easy.  The mailing tubes sold by the US Post Office are
exactly the right diameter to fit on the spool chucks.  I have not
found a supply of extra boxes.

Good luck with this.  If you find a way to make a Leabarjan type roll
editor, I would like to learn more on this.

Julie Porter

 [ "Midiboek" is a free template printing program available at
 [ http://huizen.daxis.nl/~Ppaardekam/index.htm 
 [ -- Robbie