Chapter 22.2 The Violin Rank Muting Shutters
In addition to the celest mutes, the violin rank is also furnished with its own swell shutter, which is closed when the "Muted Strings" stop is drawn. In fact it is only opened when the "Viola" or "Violin" stops are drawn. This creates an interesting paradox. If one wants the "Aeolian Harp" (Celest) stop to play loudly, one has to pull both the "Aeolian Harp", and the "Viola" or "Violin" knobs, to open both the celest mute and the swell shutter.
These shutters are hinged to a rail that is attached, not to its own rank, but to the top of the big, extended Helmholz resonator array on the French Horn rank below. The hinging technique is similar to that used on the swell shutters in an American vacuum reed organ. First, replace the canvas criss-cross hinges.
Then, mask the area to be glued, and glue on the single-covered reed organ bellows rubber cloth (OSI Item 6340.00). Make sure that the hinge is clamped in the fully closed position when gluing on the cloth; otherwise tension in the cloth will bind the shutter in the open position. The shutters are pulled open by the stop linkage, and must spring closed.
Using a clamped-on straightedge, trim along the inner edges of the masking tape. The The tape, and the excess cloth and glue, can be easily stripped off, leaving a neat edge.
The following pictures show the details of the wire springs and linkages, assembled on the bass end...
...and on the treble end. Chapter 14 contains details of the rest of the stop action linkages.
