Size of Pipe Feet ?
I have a question about Pipe Feet - well several questions actually. I am building a voicing machine for my pipes for my 89kl organ and I want to have several standardized pipe feet holes in the top. The question is - what size do I choose for the - say - 3 different sizes ? Is there a special taper that I should use ? The second question relates to how to mass-produce pipe feet on the lathe - how do you get consistent sizes for every one - is there a way to have a template that you could use ? Also, does anyone have any ideas about making the tapered holes for the pipe feet to go into ? Many Thanks, Stephen.

Anyone ? Bueller ? :-) Anyone ? :roll:

Hello Stephen, Well I really thought someone would have replied by now. The feet we use at Alan Pell music are 5/8" for bass pipes, 1/2" for accomps & bottom half of melody, & 7/16 for top half of melody. 16' bass pipes have 3/4" straight tube with a counter bore in the pipe & chest. I have no idea if this is the industry standard, as we only build new organs, that's why I was leaving it to others! Rob.

Hi Stephen, The short answer is - there is no standard. Every builder uses his own dimensions. The important part of pipe feet is not the outside diameters, but the bore sizes. These must suit the voicing techniques of the particular pipes. You can easily accommodate different foot standards on a voicing machine by preparing "veneers" to screw to the table of the machine, drilled with different sized holes. Incidentally, My voicing machine is still for sale. It's made from a church organ chest with 56 notes and four sliders, connected to a keyboard with a KA tracker system. It comes with a regulated double-rise reservoir. It must go soon, so I'm open to offers. Regards, John

For mass producing them I suppose the critical question is whether or not they have a taper. If not tapered I would simply drill out the center of a commecially made dowel (checking carefully for out-of-round first!) A taper makes much more sense given the likelihood that both foot and mortise (hole in the deck) will change shape and size over time. I don't know what the standard taper is for an organ foot, most of the ones I've seen do seem to be tapered. Machinists have a number of standard tapers ranging from the common self-locking Morse taper to others that won't lock. I would imagine that you would cut the mortise with a tapered plug cutter or chair-makers reamer and, if turning by hand, set diameters at the ends of the foot and cut a straight line between them, -*test*-('") fitting to a sample mortise as you go. This isn't exactly mass production, but I could imagine doing 40-50 in a day once you had some practice. (I like making small boxes on the lathe with a piston-like fit between the lid and bottom, so I know it is certainly possible to achieve good results by hand). For reall mass production I could imagine two solutions, one a metal lathe that gives you the appropriate dcontrol (but most cutters on a metal lathe leave a lousy finish on the wood, and your lovely taper will be destroyed by hand sanding), alternately you could use a tapered tenon cutter (e.g. http://www.gtp.com.au/cgi-bin/icommerce3/order/formclassic.cgi?file=woodstock&display=595&id=DT-SET Cheers, Roger

Yes, tapered is best, to ensure a good fit over time. I use taprerd holes for the smaller pipes, cut with a home-made single-blade cutter, after the small diameter is drilled straight. The angle is around 3.5 degrees. On larger pipes the feet are always tapered, but fitting into straight holes. They are always stayed in position higher up, so the perfect fit is not so critical. The pipes are never glued into position. That would make them very difficult to remove later. I simply wipe the feet with a shellac-soaked rag and quickly place them into the holes before the shellac has time to dry. Whenever the pipes need to be removed an application of methyated spirit (denatured alcohol) is all that's required to loosen them. alternately you could use a tapered tenon cutter (e.g. http://www.gtp.com.au/cgi-bin/icommerce3/order/formclassic.cgi?file=woodstock&display=595&id=DT-SET I believe this was the method used by Chiappa. The feet of his small pipes were made integral with the block after the pipe had been assembled. Regards, John

Hello everyone, Yes, a 3 degree taper is what we use. Feet are easy to make on a metal work lathe; just set your cross slide to 3 degrees, set your dials to the correct diameter/length & you're away! Our melody pipes are all made with extra long blocks, so you can just turn the whole pipe, once you have drilled the hole of course! John is quite right about the hole being crucial. However if you are voicing a new pipe from scratch, then as long as you voice it with the foot it is going to live with, you'll be OK. Don't change it for a different hole diameter later on! Traditionally, pipe voicers regulate the speech of over blowing pipes by bunging the feet up with slivers of wood. One can alternatively drill a hole across the hole in the foot block & use a grub screw or bolt to throttle the supply after it's voiced, if you're unsure of the exact pressure. However it's best to voice the pipe either on the organ itself, or using an air supply which exactly matches the pressure to start with. The tapered hole thing I'm not so sure on. It's certainly traditional, but whether it's of any benefit is debatable. We have never used them. A bead of glue, a couple of sharp taps with a hammer & you're done. As John says, any pipes over about a foot long should be stayed up, & if you need to get them out at any time then a wiggle should persuade them to budge. Or you could just buy some ready made feet from us.... Hope this is of more help than confusion! Rob.

Many Thanks for all your replies. Much appreciated. Lots of good stuff !! I never thought that maybe you could have just a straight hole in the wind chest and tap the tapered foot into it. I'm starting with standardized poplar dowels from the local DIY store (Home Depot) which come in 1 1/4", 1" and 3/4" and I'll turn a 3 degree taper down from there and see where it gets me. BTW:Howard Wyman's excellent series on the Carousels.com website http://www.carousels.com/wyman has an interesting idea to create the tapered hole - turning a dummy pipe foot with a shaft on it then covering it with self-adhesive sandpaper and putting it in the drill press to enlarge a slightly undersized hole in the wind chest. Might try that as well. Thanks, Stephen.