First off, I'd like to thank all of you for all of the positive emails
that are still coming in.  It's MMD that you should be thanking for
allowing these posts to be possible.  All that I hope to accomplish is
to clarify the use and or installation of certain materials used in
mechanical music machines.

When I make statements, I try to elaborate and give the reason why a
certain process is done or used from a mechanical standpoint, not from
hearsay or assumptions.  I don't consider this to be a debate nor a
situation of personal preference, like some had mentioned.  There is
simply a right way to do things from a mechanical standpoint.  There's
only one way to rebuild an engine; if you change that way or use
inferior parts it won't last or perform well, again from a mechanical
standpoint.

That being said, I was hesitant to bring up zephyr skin in my previous
post being that most don't have much experience working with it and
just end up spreading false information.  I consider myself to be an
authority and very knowledgeable when it comes to zephyr skin, being
that I use it in my reproduction Wurlitzer valves and instruments that
require it.

In the last 20 years I have built thousands of Wurlitzer valves shipped
all over the World.  Currently I have only had one situation that
someone ordered a set and where left in a garage for two and a half
years unused and the pouches where eaten.  He ended up buying another
set and haven't heard from him since.

When you hear comments like "every zephyr pouch piano that I have
seen was failing due the zephyr skin pouches" it's simply misleading.
You have to take in to consideration the normal occurrences that most
likely would have taken place before the restorer acquires the
instrument.  Logically, a player piano or orchestrion is simply not
going to stop playing in someone's home from insects getting into the
system and eating the pouches.  The exception is if you live in a barn.

The most likely scenario like many others is that the instrument stops
working from a malfunctioning pump, valves or maybe worn pouches and
then gets moved to the garage, basement, porch or storage facility and
years later the owner decides to have it restored.  In this time frame,
is where the hammers, felt, leather and wood get exposed to the
elements and creates more deterioration.  This scenario is way more
plausible then assuming that the zephyr caused the original failure.

Humidity does not affect zephyr either.  Its simply too thin for it
to be effected by humidity and moisture.  My shops resides in Florida
which has way more humidity and 10 times the bugs than the West Coast
and yet every day when I go into my shop all of the leather and the
zephyr skin is still sitting there on the shelf untouched by any
insects.  Go figure -- keeping in mind that zephyr is extremely thin
and will show damage much faster than a regular pouch that is three
times thicker.

Another rumor is that insects don't eat regular pouches.  This is
also not true.  It's all made of animal.  What will eat zephyr will
also eat leather.  The majority of the instruments that I get in that
where taken care of, if they have zephyr, is normally still in good
shape.  Even my current completed restoration of a Popper orchestrion
had the original zephyr pouches that were in good operating order.
I still replaced them but they were in good shape.

Every situation that I hear about zephyr being eaten, the instrument
was obtained from someone's porch or was exposed to the elements like
mentioned above.  Like I have said many times before, I feel no need to
change proven restoration practices at the expense of the instrument
for those few who don't take care of instruments and expose them to
conditions that they should not be in.

I've tested zephyr from every source that I can find and the only
reliable source for quality zephyr skin is Laukhuff Organ Supply in
Germany.  They are very reasonable priced and have yet had any
problems.  I normally use what they refer to as Darmleder Mittel which
is their medium grade zephyr:  http://www.en.laukhuff.de/ 

Most zephyr obtained elsewhere is put together in a way that can be
torn very easily and in most cases if viewed by a jeweler's eye piece,
it will have a quilted look like toilet paper.  This type would be
unacceptable.

Zephyr skin isn't the easiest material to work with but with a few main
pointers you should feel more comfortable.  Mainly, you can't just take
a regular skin of zephyr and punch a pouch out of it.  When I receive
zephyr I take the sheet and crumble it up and unfold it several times
to aid it in flexing and creating the pouch to seat when it is
installed or keep its dip.  This is a must!  You will not hurt it by
doing this.

After the zephyr has gone through this process, then it is ready to
punch out the pouches.  When installing you need to make sure not to
get any glue seeping on the inside of the pouch that will eventually
wear a hole in the pouch.  Use the glue very sparingly.  Depending on
the installation I also paint the glue around the perimeter of the
pouch again being careful not to get any on the pouch.  Other than
that, you're good to go!

As for regular pouch leather I again would recommend Columbia Organ
Leathers: http://www.columbiaorgan.com/col/  I have had great success
with their quality.  If anyone obtains leather from another source
that needs to be sealed due to the quality, tears or is porous I would
recommend trying another supplier.  It would not be suitable for
a pouch.

Currently leather has a better tanning process than used in the past
and will out-last leathers that were available 80 to 100 years ago.
Tanning is the process which permanently alters the protein structure
of leather.  For a more details on this I would suggest contacting your
leather supplier or tannery.  It would create another five paragraphs
to go into detail.

I can't really understand all the talk and concern about sealing
pouches when a newly replaced pouch with the correct thickness and
quality will last 30 plus years while working at its best performance
with no alterations.  I'm okay with that.

Very rarely instrument builders used pneumatic cloth for pouches,
normally larger pouches.  Wurlitzer and Coinola, to name a few, but
mainly used silk-backed pneumatic cloth in which is thinner and easier
to create a pouch dip with than the normal cloth backed material that
is commonly used for pneumatics.  Silk-backed pneumatic cloth is very
rare to find and only have one source.  To be clear, before another
trend happens, you can't use regular pneumatic cloth for pouch
material.  I just wanted to through that out there.

The above information is only meant to help people feel more comfortable
about the use of zephyr where required.  I'm not implying that you
replace regular pouches with zephyr; I'm simply giving details as I know
of them.  I didn't want to repeat myself on why zephyr is the choice
material for some situations.  Please refer to my previous post.

Lastly, I really appreciate the advice given to inform readers to use
whatever pleases them to seal pouches.  This type of advice secures my
future as a restorer.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
I'm always available being that this is my life!

Musically,
Robert Loeffler - Roberts Musical Restorations
Deland, Florida
http://www.robertsmusicalrestorations.com/