These photos show the restoration of the Choir division (pipes played by the bottom keyboard) wind chest and restoration of the primary valves of the Swell division (played by the 3rd keyboard). Restoration of the E.M. Skinner organ is now more than 50% complete.
Just as described in the Nov 13 update, the Choir division wind chest has been completely restored. Here we see it upside-down with all components reassembled and installed. Lead tubing cut to length and flared, all done by hand. These will be precisely bent and installed within the chest connecting two pressurized air channels. The Choir division chest upside-down with the pouch rails also upside-down to view the leatherwork. As in the Nov 13 update for Swell division chest 2, the brown leather disks are the pouches, which move up and down by pneumatic pressure when engaged by the organist. The smaller white disks are felt and leather valves glued onto the pouches, which tightly seal the pneumatic channels when a pouch is not being engaged. Each piece is hand punched and glued together before being glued to the wooden pouch rails.The restored primary of Swell division chest 2. The primary action is the series of tiny moving parts which engage all the other components within the chest when a note is played by the organist. Each of the shiny brass wires you see are threaded and on them (not visible, as they are within the chest) are small round valves of felt and leather; each valve is held in place at precise increments by leather nuts, which allow for proper adjustment. Also note the white leather gasket along the left edge of the wood. Every tiny piece has been disassembled, had new leather glued in place, reassembled, and installed. Beautiful craftsmanship by the team at Quimby Pipe Organs, exactly as E.M. Skinner did it 100 years ago.Here we see the threaded brass wires further into the action of the primary. The tip goes through the brown leather pouches and threads into a tiny leather nut on the other side. When a key is pressed signal is sent to the corresponding electro-magnet on the primary, which exhausts a tiny pneumatic channel, which then moves the tiny valves on the brass wire (thus moving the wire itself), which moves the pouches. So many parts, all restored by hand, and all precisely adjusted for instantaneous movement when a note is played.

The Swell division (pipes played by the 3rd keyboard from the bottom) is so large that it has two main wind chests that the pipes live on. Restoration of these chests involves complete disassembly and removal of all moving parts, cleaning the chest inside and out, renewing the shellac finish, replacing all perishable materials (such as leather and rubber cloth), polishing or replacing all metal components (screws, tacks, electrical contact pins, etc.), and reassembling the many tiny parts that make up this one large chest.
Installation of newly made pitman valves. The pitman valves for a particular stop (such as a Trumpet of Flute) control whether the pipes of that stop play when a note is engaged on the chest. Each pipe on this chest has a corresponding pitman valve. Hundreds of these tiny valves are made by punching out discs of leather and affixing them to a tiny wood stem with a brass tack. Organ building can be very tedious and very repetitive!Lead tubes installed to connect related wind channels. Each section of tube is hand cut, flared, and bent before being glued before installation.More pitman valves being installed.Leather gaskets are glued in place with hot hide glue to ensure everything is airtight and there are no leaks between channels. Each gasket is hand cut to proper size from large skins of leather and all holes (whether for wind channels or screw holes) must be marked and cut out with leather punches and a mallet.Main body and components of the chest reassembled and lying upside-down with the pouch boards also laying upside-down to view the beautiful leatherwork. The brown leather disks are the pouches, which move up and down by pneumatic pressure when engaged by the organist. The smaller white disks are felt and leather valves glued onto the pouches, which tightly seal the pneumatic channels when a pouch is not being engaged. Each piece is hand punched and glued together before being glued to the wooden pouch rails.The chest upside-down with pouch rails and all mechanical components installed. Now both main chests of this division are completely restored and ready for another century of reliable service.

The crew at Quimby has been hard at work restoring the mechanics of our Skinner’s Solo division.

Restored pouch boards for the Solo sitting within their chest. Each of these little leather pouches with a felt and leather valve at its center sits directly below an individual pipe. When the corresponding note is played at the console, the air channel below the pouch is exhausted, which causes the pouch to collapse under the air pressure inside the wind chest, and the pressurized air makes its way up through the pipe causing it to play.

Solo pouch boards awaiting restoration. By this stage, the 99 year old leather had all been removed from the boards and then were appropriately cleaned awaiting application of springs and new pouches.

Restored Solo stop action with new white leather gasket along the top edge.

More of the stop action...

New pitman valves for the Solo chests. Looking at a wind chest from above, it is a large X-Y grid. Notes of the keyboard are the Y-axis, and each stop (English Horn, French Horn, etc.) are the X-axis. The pitman valves are what engages the X-axis, allowing particular sounds to play when an organist presses a key, which would engage the Y-axis (primary valves).

Restored primary board for the Solo division. Just as the pitman valves for the X-axis, the primary forms the Y-axis. When an organist presses a key, signal is sent to and energizes an electro-magnet on the wind chest, which moves a tiny metal armature, which exhausts a tiny channel, which causes the pressurized air in the chest to engage the primary. Once a note is engaged on the primary, that note can play on each stop on that chest, so long as the pitman valves (stop action) are also engaged. With both primary (Y) and pitmans (X) engaged, the note valves are exhausted and pipes will play. Yes, there are lots of moving parts!

New gasket along the bottom edge of one of the Solo chests.

The bottom of a restored an assembled wind chest in the Solo division. Each of the little pieces of brass seen sticking out are part of the primary and are screwed into a tiny leather nut on the inside of the primary pouches (now completely hidden inside the chest). When a note is played, these little brass wires can be seen moving slightly up into the chest as the valves are exhausted.

Side profile of a restored wind chest in the Solo. Note the new leather gasket material between the various components of the chest.

E.M. Skinner Op. 459 arrived safely at the workshop of Quimby Pipe Organs. The entire dismantled organ was placed in secure, climate-controlled storage at QPO awaiting rebuilding.
Console of E.M. Skinner Op. 459 with all interior components removed. Large, wooden bass pipes can be spotted at back-right, stacked horizontally.Stacked trays of pipes, with at least seven wind regulators in the foreground.Two of the smaller windchests in the organ, stored on their backs.

E.M. Skinner Op. 459 is now completely removed from its original home in Watertown, MA and now on the road to the shop of Quimby Pipe Organs in Warrensburg, MO. 
E.M. Skinner Opus 459, packed in a semi-truck, leaving its Watertown, MA home of 99 years.

The expert crew of Organ Clearing House is on-site in Watertown, MA removing our pipe organ from its original home. This process will take at least 10 days as they carefully remove, gently pack, and painstakingly label and document many thousands of parts and pipes. 
The Swell division with all pipes removed.Stacked pipe trays. All of the pipes are carefully organized and packed into wooden crates for safe transport to Quimby Pipe Organs in Warrensburg, MO.
Wind lines removed from the organ. Various size and shape wind lines convey pressurized wind from the blower, through the building, to pressure regulators, and then to windchests.Packed wooden pipe racks (which hold long pipes firmly in place on their chest) and various small chest components.The console interior with back panel removed. Originally all console functions relied upon pneumatic switches and thousands of small electrical contacts. Though a work of art, these century-old devices will be replaced with the latest in solid-state equipment.