Hi Mechanical Music Digest readers,  while on a trip through Kansas
last Thursday we learned that the Reuter Organ Company in Lawrence,
Kansas (outside of Kansas City), gives tours of their factory.

My wife, Cathy, and I arrived in their lobby and, with no prior
arrangement, were met by the gentleman in charge of the pipe voicing
department and were given one of the best factory tours I have ever
had.  (Being a mechanical engineer, as well as an organ enthusiast,
I have been on many different kinds of factory tours.)

The Reuter factory is an interesting place, employing about 30 people
today, down from about 90 in the 1920s.  Other than some common
components and electronic circuitry, they make the entire organ, from
wooden pipes, chests, consoles and supporting framework to metal pipes.

We started the tour in their new organ design area and then toured
every part of the factory from raw lumber storage, through the
woodworking section, to pipe metal casting and fabrication.  We saw
chest components (boards) having the patterns for pipe locations and
pouches being machined by computer controlled routers.  These same
routers are also able to produce intricate decorative patterns to match
ornamental carvings already existing in churches where the new organs
are to be installed.  We discussed sources for pouch leather.

We toured the pipe voicing area and were given a demonstration of
pipe voicing and tuning.  We were also given an impromptu rendition
of "El Cumbachero" played by our host on a "resident" 2-manual Reuter
theater organ, recovered and restored from it's original theater
location.

The best part of the whole tour was that we were able to view
everything "up close and personal" -- we were not behind a glass panel
or anything like that.  For instance, we stood beside his workbench and
watched as a craftsman soldered the long vertical seam of the tube for
a metal pipe.  We saw metal parts being cast for reed pipes.   Wooden
chest boards were being machined while we watched, standing beside the
machine.  We visited the area where sections of a new organ were being
set up for final assembly and testing prior to being dismantled and
shipped to the customer.

Throughout, our host was devoted to having us learn about the organ
building process as he answered our myriad questions.  I am sure that
we took up about an hour or so of his valuable time that he could have
used for more important company business, but these tours are one way
that Reuter is able to advertise and tell people about their organs.

I highly recommend the tour, if you happen to be in the area.  The only
requirement is that the tours are given between certain hours in the
morning and afternoon, so check their schedule.

Pat DeWitt
Fort Wayne, Indiana

 [ Visit http://www.reuterorgan.com/  -- Robbie