Pipe-Making Machine
Accurate thin strips of wood for organ pipes are expensive or difficult to
make. Here is my answer. All that is required is a hand planer
and a drill press. The photo should be self-explanatory:
My top plate is 10mm thick steel, 145 x 110mm with a stub to fit the drill
clamp (you could use 12mm ply). 25mm angle is used for planer supports,
and adjustment and clamping studs are 6mm studding. The base is 9"
plastic-coated chipboard 26" long bolted to the drill press, with 2 guide
strips 50mm wide x 3mm thick. The planer pivots on the front fixings
and is adjusted parallel to the base with the studding on the rear support
angle.
Method
Face a piece of wood approx. 2' x 2", this will be the inside of the pipe.
Cut off a strip 5-7mm thick, then adjust the planer first on the drill
press then the fine adjustment on the cutter adjuster. I lower the
planer onto the piece of wood the thickness I want, usually an eighth of
an inch. My planer gives me a perfect finish with just one pass (use
a pusher stick). You can then cut your next piece and plane it without
re-adjusting the cutters. |
