In yesterday's Digest Roger Waring was asking for advice on rebuilding
a harmonium.  In my younger days I have rebuilt some.  It's not "a
doddle", but an experienced player restorer, like Roger, should not
bother too much.

After all, the construction of a harmonium is quite simple.  Replacing
some pieces of wood, glueing some cracks in wind-chests, putting new
cloth on the bellow, may be some new stripes of felt, a drip of oil,
regulating, and that's it, most of the time.

Tuning may cause a problem, if no practice is at hand.  And finding
replacement for broken or dead reeds can be a pain in the butt.

I do know at least one book in the English language, that could be of
help: "The Reed Organ -- Its Design and Construction" by H. F. Milne.
It's a reprint from the London 1930
edition.

If one is able to read German, I would advise to buy the book: "Das
Harmonium" by Jan Grosbach, which can be ordered from "Verlag Erwin
Bochinsky".  This book is a good source on pressure- and vacuum-operated
harmoniums, and has a good chapter on how to repair these instruments.

Jan Kijlstra