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Hello to all of you!  One more John Smith 20-note busker organ is
in the row, born to sing!  I just finished mine.  It took two months
for the first baby scream, and one more month to look pretty!  What
to say about it?  "Thank you, John!"

So much has been said about the problems of the plans that I was scared
to begin.  There were no problems at all.  Everything is compact and
well thought out, and you need to go to the end of it to understand
that.  For instance, only at the end of the job did I realise that the
tubing for the three lower bass notes is only 5 cm long.  Perhaps that
is part of the secret that makes them so surprisingly efficient; what
I really doubted before starting...

John just wanted to do something more simple -- and he did better!
Steady wind, wide and short tubing, no valves and maximum efficiency
tested on each pipe.  No wonder the good result!

Could the playing be more precise, quicker, and maybe crisper?  Maybe
a steam calliope would do better!

One suggestion, John -- sorry, it is some more work for you!  Send
different texts with the plans and videos, according to the skill and
equipment of the builder that you should enquire first about.  Does one
use a band-saw, a lathe, a milling machine, etc.?  The choices to build
can be different.  Of course, the choice of the methods you show is the
one of minimum equipment, but there are easier choices if one has a
complete workshop.

A few suggestions to beginners about this experiment:

 - Don't be afraid of pipe building.  The first pipes seem terrible,
but you are surprised when you reach the end of them and could easily
go on!

 - The whole project is a lot of work, so honour your own work with
good quality materials (if you can) for the leather, hinges, locks,
etc.  You won't regret it!

 - Try to use rubber tubing instead of plastic tubing, as it is easier
to fix, it's tighter, and it accepts small -radius bends with less
tension.

 - In 030109 MMDigest I suggested enlargement of the window of the
busker and to use Plexiglas.  Let me complete the idea.  Use "smoked"
Plexiglas, otherwise the transparent window appears as a big hole in
the busker and the esthetic lines are broken.  You just need to see the
holes in the paper, anyway, contrasted with the white paper.  The color
of Plexiglas has to be chosen according to the wood.

 - I had to reduce the diameter of the [capstan] roller to 5.5 cm to
get the right speed.

Best regards,

Jean Nimal
France

PS: Let talking through the MMD web site be the opportunity to bring
my actual and personal token of a natural friendship to your country.

 [ That's a nice expression of international friendship, Jean.  ;-)
 [ Thanks for your article.  -- Robbie