I am Ray Lins, owner and restorer of the North Tonawanda organ posted
on YouTube.  Craig Wiley wants to know what I used to ebonize and gild
the case.

When I purchased the organ, from Tom Wurdeman, it was a barrel organ
without a barrel or key frame, so it was not hard to decide to convert
to paper roll operation.  This required modification of the case to
make room for the vacuum bellows, pneumatic chest and roll frame.  The
case was made of poplar and the finish was in amazingly good condition,
so I attempted to match it as closely as practical.

After sanding the old finish, I sprayed the entire case with Minwax
polyurethane which contained a dark walnut stain.  I added several
coats until the color matched the original finish.  Polyurethane will
bond to a previous coat only if it is not fully cured, so it must be
re-coated with that in mind.

The name across the top of the case is gold leaf and the carved
features are back-filled with gold paint.

For those interested, I also posted several large European organs from
the Bill Nunn collection on YouTube.  Search under "Railnwings".

Ray Lins
Burnsville, Minnesota