The parts came last week, and I was able to assemble the organ this weekend.  It went together quite easily, and since it was in parts, carrying it upstairs one piece at a time is so much easier than carrying up the assembled instrument.

 Something like an Ikea project, the entire instrument came on a pallet with 5 boxes

The bench went together very quickly, keyboards and parts all in separate boxes.

 The Pedalboard is a separate unit, also in its own box

 The console table was folded up into a number of pieces in a single box.  The thing that took the longest in the assembly was putting the 16 brass toestuds onto their mounting board.

With the console in pieces, taking each part upstairs itself made transport easy

The Keyboard stack is assembled separately.  I chose pistons on only one keyboard, as I find that I rely almost entirely on toestuds.  Also, with modern systems, all you really need is "Next", which I've put on toestuds.  That being said, you still need a set and cancel, and I also have assigned 0-4, 5-9, -10(memories), and +10 (memories) to the pistons.  I have 6 left over that I'll figure out what to do.  These are lighted pistons, but I haven't been able to get them to light yet.

 

The completed console is here.  I'm waiting on the rocker tabs.  I'm building boxes to go on the sides for the rocker tabs.  This will make it much easier to play than with the touchscreens.  

I've played a few things, and the wooden keyboards feel marvelous.  It is much easier to play than my old instrument.  Just a few more things to go.  I'll also build a bigger music desk.

Building a new Hauptwerk Organ

I'm in the process of doing the experiment of building a Hauptwerk organ.  I'm using components from midiworks.ca, however somewhat customized.  The idea is for a 4 manual instrument with stop tab control.  I'll be building the stoptab blocks using existing electronic components.  The pieces are on order now.

The biggest challenge was designing the stoptab layout.  I'm experimenting with some non-traditional layouts which group principal choruses separate from the other flues in the manner that French style consoles do it.  Of course, with programmability, it's easy to change if it doesn't work.

The secondary challenge was to make the cost tradeoffs.  I was planning on building a system where many of the couplers were on lighted pistons rather than stoptabs, but in this case, the pistons from Midiworks were very much more expensive than lighted stoptabs, so I'm going to do the tabs instead.

Pictures to come as it is being built...