Hello everyone; I am brand new to the MMD.  But I have to say from what
I've read over the past couple days is that this forum is outstanding!
All those involved need to be commended for their time and effort in
posting valuable information.

I have been collecting, repairing and restoring clocks for over thirty
years.  Lately I've been having fun with musical items.  I've just
obtained my first roller organ.  Based on Todd Augsburger's great
website, mine is a Home Model with no wording stenciled across the top.

While the finish and appearance of my unit make it look original, it
seems like someone has worked on it within the last 30 or 40 years,
based on the flaps covering the exhauster ports.  Attached are pictures
of my unit.  I have not worked on my unit in any way at this point and
I want to gather as much info as I can before restoration.  Here are
some questions I have.

1. The external flapper valves clearly need to be replaced on the
exhauster bellows.  What is present is stiff (rubberized?) cloth which
was glued on each end and has shiny thumb tacks in the center (to help
hold the cloth down for sealing purposes?).  I understand that these
flapper valves should be leather.  What thickness should this leather
be?  I have some leather that is about 1/16th-inch thick which seems
like it would work well.  Or should the leather be more like 1/8th-inch
thick?

2. What type of glue should I use to hold down the external flapper
valves at each end?  Is E6000 glue good for this?  Or liquid hide glue?

3. I read on another posting about trying to revitalize the existing
bellows material by applying a layer or two of "Pliobond" rubber
cement.  Peeking in edgewise at the exhauster bellows I do not see any
tears in the bellows, but there appears to be areas where some type of
goop was applied to the bellows, while a majority of the bellows look
like "cloth".  Any advice on how to apply the Pliobond for best
results?

4. Is there a way to check the integrity of the internal flapper valves
before I do much work in trying to my unit working as is (without
bellows replacement)?

5. I noticed that when I manually collapse the reservoir bellows
I can tell air is escaping from a couple of places.  One place is at
one corner where someone has applied some electrical tape for repair
(a brilliant idea -- right?).  I'm hoping for a Pliobond improvement
there.  But I am also seeing some air escape in a couple spots at the
edge of the bellows where it should be sealed to the wooden "frame".
Any advice on how to best reseal edge seams?

To close I'd like to share a restoration tip I've used on antique
clocks that works great.  As I've developed my restoration skills I've
come to the point where I typically never strip and refinish anything,
but instead rejuvenate and bring back the original finish on things.

One thing I do regularly with great results is to use Gojo waterless
hand cleaner to bring out the original finish and patina.  For a
straight piece of furniture I use 0000 steel wool and Gojo to rub down
and clean up the surface working in small areas at a time.  When you
are done with an area wipe off and buff with a soft cloth.

You will see that the surface may cloud up a bit as it dries off.
Simply take your soft cloth and buff it up again and you will likely
see amazing results.  On more delicate surfaces (such as this roller
organ) I use Gojo applied with a washcloth.  Note that if an original
surface is a heavily crazed or alligatored type, more aggressive
measures will need to be taken.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Paul Henion

P.S.: Here is a link to my clock website for anyone interested
in seeing some very interesting restorations:
http://www.myoldclocks.weebly.com/ 

 [ Home Roller Organ as received
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/17/01/06/170106_071153_IMG_6012.JPG 

 [ Exhauster Bellows and flapper valve view
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/17/01/06/170106_071153_IMG_6044.JPG 

 [ Home Roller organ side view
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/17/01/06/170106_071153_IMG_6016.JPG