Restoring Grace: A visit to the Organ in Maine

A visit to the Organ in Maine

by Allison Andrews, Parish Historian

On Friday, August 28, fourteen Grace members, including 4 children, went to the David E. Wallace & Company in Gorham, Maine, to visit our 1885 Hook & Hastings organ in "the hospital."

David and Nick Wallace, father and son, and partners in organ building, welcomed us into the huge old barn that is their workshop. The big yard and chicken coop were a hit with the kids.

The organ is still in parts. Work continues on the major parts that work behind the scenes in organ chamber. These are wooden structures with intricate wooden, metal, and electrical elements. When possible, the original parts are being reused and painted or shellacked, in the original fashion. New parts are built when the old ones are beyond repair, or in some cases, to replace a clumsy, cobbled-together segment with a new streamlined version. The pieces that left Medford a dingy gray color will come back painted a lively "Hook red." New electronic components are en route from Germany.

In the workshop, we were introduced to a new wooden wind chest - a deceptively simple box on the outside but full of handcrafted parts that move with split-second accuracy to sound the proper notes. The old wind chests were cracked and allowed air to bleed from one pipe into its neighbors, sometimes sounding a few notes that weren't asked for.

The new console (where the organist sits) will be built next. The workshop has a small, fully functional Hook & Hastings of our vintage and its console, along with others from the 1885 era, will inform the design of our new console. The pipes themselves will require little work by comparison because they are in good working order.

It is interesting to note how the available technology affected not only how an organ could be built in 1885, but changes that would be made over time.

As originally built, our organ was a "tracker" or manual organ. A note pressed on the keyboard activated the mechanism that opened the air valve to fill the pipe and make the sound.

To create the wind, water pressure was used to force air into the organ's reservoirs. We found evidence of this in pipes and pulleys under the chamber floor. This was possible because in 1885 the city had a water system in place, with water pressure sufficient to do the job. (And before that, young boys were recruited to pump bellows by hand!)

Electricity had not come into common use quite soon enough when our 1885 organ was built. When it was electrified in the 1950s, the relay system from keyboard to pipes went from mechanical to electronic, and the removal of fixed parts meant the console and other components could be repositioned while maintaining the connection electronically. Today, updating the 1950s electronics is a big part of the current restoration. For wind generation, we use an electric blower.

Once all of the work at Wallace is complete, the organ will be put together for a dry run at the shop, then disassembled and reassembled at Grace. We are on schedule for its return by Christmas.

David welcomes visitors at any time. Give them a call if you're in the area and stop by!

New wind chest - a big box that holds air.

Wind chest with front panel removed. It is full of intricate parts, which David explains.

Looking on are: Isaiah Irwin-Evans, Jane and Lucas Hamel, and Charlie DePalma.

Left: an electromagnetic solenoid that will slide parts into position. Right: The H&H-style stop knob that will be used at the new keyboard.

Toe boards, old and new. David shows an old board that is being cleaned and shellacked, and a new one built to replace one that was beyond repair. The toe board connects to the top of the wind chest, pipes stand in the holes and receive air from below.

Each hole must fit its pipe exactly. Nick shows us a cone-shaped "branding" tool for refining the hole size. The inner rims of the holes appear dark because the wood is slightly charred.

Nick and Wes Foote discuss the plans for layout of the organ chamber.

The workshop is an 18th century barn. There are several functioning organs in the shop. This one is a Hook & Hastings about the same age as ours. Its console (where the organist sits) will be one model for the design of our new console. Note the wooden pieces behind David repainted "Hook red."

Why build a new piece? In this case, the old one (right) was cobbled together over time into a bulky assemblage. The new one (left) was designed and built for the job.

Valves that open to release air to the pipes - over 100 of them in the process of being built.

Wes ponders the new blower.

What are organs made of? Times may change but the best materials remain the same. Replacement parts are made of the same wood as the originals. Leather is a reliable connecting material. Fish glue is made from fish! And as Steve Duggan bravely finds out, it doesn't smell too bad.