Photo 1. Getting the big pipes up and down the staircase proved to be quite a task.
Photo 2. Both the wooden pipes and the larger metal pipes were processed outside in the warm Seattle sun.
Photo 3. The big metal pipes were immersed in an EDTA solution and scrubbed while in that solution.
Photo 4. The dirt comes off in the EDTA solution tub on the right and then the pipes are neutralized in the pure water tub on the left.
Photo 5. Once the EDTA solution was neutralized, the pipes were put out to dry. As there was no wall handy, the trees were used to hold them up so that all water would drain out.
Photo 6. Time for lunch! People in the church provided lunch every day for all workers.
Photo 7. While the pipes were being cleaned outside, the ceiling and the walls were cleaned inside. It is amazing how much filth can accumulate even on ceilings in 80 years!
Photo 8. Frank expresses how much fun it is to paint a pipe organ chamber! No one could miss how much difference the new paint was making.
Photo 9. Inside, the cleaning of the large number of small metal pipes progressed with EDTA in the far bin and the neutralizing clear water bath in the near bin.
Photo 10. Once the metal pipes were dry, the tuning slides had to be put back on them tightly enough so that they would never move on their own and loosely enough so that they could be moved by a tuning knife. The job, supervised by Halie (on the left), proved to be flawlessly done by the volunteers.
Photo 11. More tuning slides had to be put back on the pipes, this time on intermediate sized metal pipes.
Photo 12. Stoppers had to be releathered for the larger wooden pipes. Each one underwent a light test, being performed here, to be certain that every stopper completely filled up the corner of each pipe.
Photo13. The pipes are now back in place, clean as can be. The walls and the ceiling are also clean, and everything is good for another 80 years!
Pipes Washed and Organ Cleaned at Prospect Congregational
07/30/14
Prospect Congregational Church of Seattle has had a two manual, eight rank Kimball organ since 1932 when it was newly installed at the church. This Kimball is in fact the only Kimball organ in the Seattle area which is still in its original location. As such, it is appropriately viewed as an historic organ. We had previously worked with the church to move the console in 2012. We did other work on the organ since the console was moved.
While the organ is basically in good condition, it had become quite dirty in the 82 years of its life, and somewhere along the line the pressure in the Great/Pedal chamber had been increased to the point that it was running on static wind from the blower (9.5 inches) whereas the intended pressure was much lower (6.5 inches). Further, the stoppers on the unified Bourdon/Melodia rank were loose and they had been held in place over the years with paper towels and rags. Finally, the room was dirty and the walls and ceiling were badly in need of painting.
Given the above set of circumstances, more than a dozen volunteers from the church teamed up with five volunteers from the Pipe Organ Foundation to solve the problems at hand. Frank Trujillo of the church organized the volunteers from the church and Carl Dodrill of the Pipe Organ Foundation supervised all volunteers. The volunteers worked for four days in July, 2014, and they were able to complete the project during that time. The work of the volunteers can be seen in the photos. (Note that each photo can be enlarged by clicking on it).
At the start, every pipe was carefully removed from the Great/Pedal chamber for washing. All pipes had to be carried down one or two flights of stairs, and this proved to be tricky with the big Bourdon pipes.
The big metal pipes were taken outside and placed a few at a time in EDTA solution in 10 foot long washing trays. Each pipe was soaked, rubbed down completely, and then rinsed and neutralized in a clear water bath. The pipes were then put up on end to dry out completely before being brought back inside.
Small metal pipes were taken to the church basement where a group of volunteers first removed the tuning slides. Then, exactly as with the big pipes, they washed them in an EDTA solution with soaking of the pipes, rubbing them down, and then rinsing them in a neutralizing bath of clear water.
All wooden pipes were taken outside where their stoppers and caps were removed. They were then blown out with an air compressor. The caps were then replaced, and each wooden pipe was washed with a solution of Murphy’s Oil Soap. After all were dried, they were taken back inside.
People from the church provided lunch every day for all workers, and this further promoted the atmosphere of fun and enjoyment which was heavy in the air through all the places where the volunteers worked together.
When all the pipes were put back in place and tuned, the organ was joyfully played! While the Swell pipe chamber is yet to be cleaned, everyone went home feeling very happy indeed
(click on small images to enlarge)