Gaudete - Rejoice!

Indeed we must all rejoice! Christmas is just around the corner and so much has been completed on this project. I admit, I was not all "gung-ho" this weekend when it came to Opus 1 when compared to past weekends. Still, progress was made.

This weekend's progress involved painting the Hauptwerk sections 1 and 3. This includes the box as well as their respected pipes. There are some issues with section 2 that I need to take care of some other time. However, I glued those pipes together. Seen below are the finished pipes for sections 1 and 3. You may need to turn you head 180º for this picture...they were drying when I took the picture.

The center pipes which fit into section 3 were the thorn in my side last weekend. Thankfully, the base which they fit into and keep their shape fits snug into its case. This will help straighten this pipes out.

Hauptwerk Division

That's pretty much the extent of this weekend's work. I now end with some pictures. Below, you'll see one of the angels placed around the area where it will be located. It's just to give us all an idea what these angle would look like on the model.

The following photos are just me having fun with some of my favorite TV characters. All this silliness will, hopefully, culminate into a movie. If time permits and all goes well, I will put together a film of the entire design and construction of Opus 1. The fun (and difficult) part is that it will be shot in front of a green screen. I can then place myself and other characters within the model. So, yes, all this siliness doe shave some sort of purpose.

His Grace (the Pope from Family Guy) came to see the progress of Opus 1. He met with it's curator, Prof. Hubert James Farnsworth (from Futurama).

Oh my, you are much bigger in person!

His Grace was pleased with it's construction and looked forward to it's prospective completion date, which should be around the beginning of March 2013. He will be present to give the organ it's blessing.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice! 

(Phil 4:4 RSV)

An International Affair

This model really kicked my but this weekend, but more on that in a second. The good thing is that all my shipments arrived by Friday. I realized something - this model has an international component to it. Yes, it is designed similar to an 18th century German Baroque pipe organ. However, the various tools and aesthetics of this model comes from "distant lands" as well.

The most obvious are the four angels from Italy. I didn't get a good picture of all four, so you may want to refer to the photo in my previous post which came from the maker in Italy. Still, the pictures do not serve them justice. I'm very happy with them. The next step would be creating a fixture to mount them to their specific locations. That will be a challenge for another time.

One of four. You can get a little better idea of the size thanks to my hand.

Another aesthetic to this model comes from Nova Scotia. I wanted to find a book of music to place on the music rest. I found a beautiful 1:12 scale book of Gregorian Chant that was made by an artist in Nova Scotia.

To get an idea of size...

Final resting place. A great touch and an awesome find!

So that's Italy, Canada, and all the components that I had to buy for my Dremel table saw (i.e., saw blades, belt, and lubricant) has come from a company in Hawaii. This is not to mention that this little blog of mine has been viewed by people all across the world. According to Blogger, the top 3 countries that have stumbled across my blog are the US of A (666 views), Russia (49 views) and Germany (18 views). Thanks again to everyone who takes the time and looks at my progress. I surprise myself every time take a step back and look what I have made.


Some other progress this weekend includes the pipe work for the Huptwerk. The two "pointed" sections were somewhat painless. However, the center section gave me hell today. Without getting into a lot of detail, which isn't like me, I fixed a few problems and pleased with how it came out.

Section 3 of the Hauptwerk Division

The other components to this section were also created and have been glued.

Last but not least, the dreaded molding. I decided to piece some the top molding for the Oberwerk together first before gluing it to the model. The first half came great. However, I ran into a problem when i started gluing the other half. You should be able to tell in the photo below. It's fixable and you will not be able to tell once it is all glued in place and painted. The small molding which will connect the Oberwerk and console area as also been cut. All that needs to be done is the mid section.

Another week now begins and I leave you with the current song that is playing from my iTunes, Chopin's Polonaise in A-flat major. (Yes, I actually have non-organ music)

The Hevenly Choir of Angels

Although I got a step ahead this weekend with the construction of the first two sections of the Hauptwerk division, I feel that not much was accomplished. Be that as it may, there are several little things that need mentioning. First, to reiterate, I went ahead and made the first two sections of the Hauptwerk division.

Section one (LT) and Section 2 (RT)

I was starting on section 3, which is the middle section, but I've been noticing that my blade is becoming more dull. It goes to show how much I've been using it. I'm at the same point before I bought this one, I'm pushing the wood through instead of the blade doing all the work. There are burn marks on the wood (which you can sort of see in the above picture). So, I went ahead and placed an order for another blade as well as some lubricant to preserve the life of the blade. I'm sure it will allow me to complete all my cutting for Opus 1.

Section 3 will reside in the center

I actually had to change my design slightly which affected this division. The reason is for the four angels that will go in the four "pockets"created between the top of the Oberwerk box and the bottom of the Hauptwerk division. The far left (LL) is created from the left pedal case, the top of the Oberwerk and the left side of the Hauptwerk (Section 1). The center left (CL) and center right (CR) are created from the Hauptwerk and the center section of the Oberwerk. The far right (RR) is created in a similar fasion as LL. You can sort of see them in the below picture.

Point two concerns the angels. Due to the specific size of these "compartments," it has been difficult to find angles that I like and are modeled after the ones on the Müller organ at St. Bavo. I found a company in Italy that does very nice woodworking. I've been communicating with him for the past week, seeing which ones would fit. I first ordered two 10cm angels for the CL and CR spots and 6cm angels for the LL and RR.

After looking at them, I love the 10cm angels, but not that comfortable with the 6cm. I had my reasoning behind the height difference, but went to look through the website again to see if there are other options. After asking for some actual photos of several options, I decided on four angles that are "flying," meaning they have no base. After getting the picture of the artist today, I was happy and they should be shipped in the next day or so.

How, you may ask, will I be mounting these angels if they are supposed to hang from something? Where there is a will there is a way. I'll know a better answer when I have them in my hand, but it will be comprised of a mounting block and a connecting dowel set at an angle. So, they will still look as if suspended in each compartment.

That's all there is for now. I received my shipment of the large molding. However, I'm now waiting for the small molding and that small book of Gregorian Chant which will be placed on the music rack. I forget if I brought that up in my previous posts. Either way, when it comes, you'll see it!


Let's enjoy some Bach at St.Bavo's Church, Haarlem (The Netherlands)