Hi Folks,  Charles Davis wrote to ask about finding a strap to hold his
organ to the cart he built.  I found a solution to this problem after
quite a bit of searching.  I went to the local cobbler and had him buy
pieces of leather belt material.

I wanted him to make a strap to carry the organ, so I needed three
pieces.  One went from the bottom of one side of the organ up to a
buckle.  Another went from the bottom of the other side and had holes
so it went into the buckle so you could adjust the length.  These two
'belt leather' pieces were about 1-1/2" wide and they come 6 feet long.

The third piece (3/4" wide by 6 feet long) was cut in half and one
piece was sewn to each shoulder strap, part way down the sides of the
organ so that they were between the larger strap and the side of the
organ.  A buckle was attached to one piece and holes were punched into
the other piece.  It was buckled over the top of the organ to hold the
straps in place.

I have another organ with two different straps.  One is like the strap
I just described.  The other was attached to a bracket on either side
of the shelf on my organ cart.  A piece of leather 3/4-inch wide works
fine.  It's plenty strong and the narrower belt will stretch a bit so
you can pull it tight.  If your organ isn't too large, you can probably
get away with one 6-foot piece - otherwise you'll probably need two
pieces.

The belt material is light tan and rather stiff so I soaked it in
Neatsfoot oil for a day or two and then wiped it off as much as I could
and let it air dry for a few days.  If you can get the cobbler to round
over the edges, the straps will be nicer to handle and look more
authentic.

Regards,
Craig Smith
near Rochester, New York, USA