Restoring a Reed Organ - Part 8: Viewing the Windchest

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After Dad unscrewed the top portion of the windchest the pallets were revealed. 
When the pitman depresses a pallet, it opens up a flow of air through the reed cell which allows the played reeds to vibrate.  Each pallet has a spring that allows it to close when the note is no longer being played.  As we were not prepared as of yet to strip down the top of the reed pan nor remove the pallets and springs, we used the existing screw holes to attach four 2x4 legs, so that we could rest the top reed pan without worring about damaging anything either on the top or the bottom.
 
 
Here is a close up of the patent label for the self-adjusting valves.

 
This is a close-up of the pallets and srpings for the sub bass.  The whole wind chest looks really clean and fresh.  There are only a couple of springs that are looking a little oxidized.

 
A couple of more views of the pallets.


 
This is the bottom of the wind chest.  It was clearly done in two pieces and connected with a piece of rubberized cloth. I'm not sure if we will need to remove this cloth and add a new piece or not.  You can see the leather gasket around the frame that provides a seal when the top half is reconnected.  The row of holes connects to the bellows board and is where the wind is drawn into the bellows by suction created by the peddles.  The bellows ares still connect to the bottom of the wind chest at this point.


 
The treble side, where the Vox Humana is separated and gasketed.

 
Next:  Removing and cleaning up the bellows and exhausters.

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