Gedeckt Part 3: Applying New Leather

After I cleaned all the stoppers, it was time to apply the new leather.  I started with the largest first (low C) and worked my way up since these would take the largest pieces of leather.  Smaller stoppers could be done with smaller scraps.  First, I cut strips of felt just a bit thicker than the originals, assuming it had compressed over the last century.  I glued it to the stopper with fish glue.  Fish glue is similar to hide glue except it can be applied at room temperature (hide glue requires a heated pot) and is premixed (hide glue has to be mixed fresh daily).

Next, I cut strips of white alum valve leather to cover the sides of the stopper.  Each hide is thickest on the animal's back and thinnest on it's belly.  I was able to cut strips of leather from various parts of the hide to select the best fit for each stopper before gluing it on.  I only glued the top and bottom edges- I didn't glue the leather to the felt.  This allows for some flexibility as the stopper conforms to the inside of the pipe for a tight seal.  The leather on the larger stoppers was originally nailed on with tacks too, so I nailed it back on again.  From 8' C up there was no felt so I just glued the leather to the wood, again only at the top and bottom edge.  The smaller stoppers were glued only at the bottom edge.  Most leather has a smooth side and a textured side.  I glued the smooth side to the stopper and left the textured side out to help grip the inside of the pipe and help it stay in tune better.  I then neatly trimmed the corners to finish them.

I let the glue cure very well over night before replacing the stoppers.  This rank had pierced stoppers from tenor F on up to the top.  This gives the rank a bit brighter color, more like a Chimney Flute.  I had already decided to add a colorful Chimney Flute that I was rather fond of and I was concerned that the tone would be too similar.  I wanted my Gedeckt to have more of a hollow, dull sound for contrast.  I experimented with coverig the chimneys with blue masking tape to listen to the tone quality.  Also, I
would have to tune the completely covered pipes a little sharper, so I wanted to make sure the pipes still spoke well if completely covered.  The experiment seemed to work fine.  The tone is a bit duller and softer too.  I 'permanently' closed the chimneys by gluing a small piece of leather on the inside of the stopper, over the chimney hole.  Some day if I change my mind and want to open the chimneys up again I can easily remove the leather.

There are a ton of photos in this album.  I took pictures of each step on several different sizes.  There are a lot of little steps.  I was also experimenting with the new iPhone and decided to make a video of the process.  The video doesn't work here in the blog so I'm going to have to figure out how to post it on YouTube and just link to it there.

Applying New Leather Album