On the 5th of May, I posted a message to the effect that I had started
building one of John Smith's 20 note organs using plans I ordered from
Chris Doe.  The project is progressing nicely.  Only the making of the
tracker bar and voicing the pipes stands between me and music.  I have
set up some pictures of the saga of the project.  They can be found at:

    http://www.txdirect.net/~egaida/smith1.html

The photos on my web site have only brief captions, but when the
organ is completed I will offer a "review" of the plans and the video.
The project has been a challenge.  I can only imagine what it would be
like if you had never covered a bellows, constructed or voiced a pipe,
made a crankshaft or did not have a fairly complete woodworking shop.

The plans and John Smith are clever.  There are some pitfalls and
I fell in all of them.  If anyone  out there is contemplating this
project, do not hesitate to get in touch with me and I can save you
a lot of time and frustration.

The first thing I would tell you is to use some wood other than balsa
for the pipes.  Smith obviously ran into problems himself and the
"revised" plans call for a hardwood strip on top of the languid as well
as hardwood caps and lips.  I used cherry and in the future I will make
the whole languid from hardwood.

Many dimensions simply are not given.  I always cringe when I hear
or read the words, "cut to fit."  A lot of this project has been like
that.

If you are the type of person who gets a warm feeling from a set
of plans which start out "Fell one large balsa tree and season it,"
then this project is for you.  If you are the type for "Snap strut B
into clevis J", then I would not suggest that you not bother.

Look at the pictures.  They describe clearly what is involved.  Enjoy.

Ed Gaida
egaida@txdirect.net