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| Daniel sent me a photograph of his organ, and I was so impressed
with the front that I asked him if he would send me further details. At
that point, I didn't even realise that it was animated! He very kindly
sent me the following photographs and explanations of how it works. It
is a brilliant piece of design, and a lot of planning obviously went
into it. I hope it will inspire others to tackle similar animated scenes
- MW |
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My
'Storybook' Front
I used 3/32" plywood cut with the scroll saw and layered to give some
relief. Base colors were applied with enamels then, while still wet, much
of the paint was rubbed off to reveal the wood grain. Details were then applied
with enamels. The rest of the woodwork is sealed with hand rubbed Danish
oil. |
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The
Animation
The cuckoo (above) and the nightingale (below) are both animated,
as is the frog. The birds' wings and beaks are operated from the organ's
crankshaft. |
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The
Mechanics
A brass connecting link is drilled to fit over the
end of the crankshaft and held in place with a small cotter pin. This
link swings a vertical pivot arm attached to a pivot block at its base. This
can be seen in the right-hand photo above. A long horizontal connecting
rod is moved from side-to-side by the pivot arm and this is connected to
an actuator at each end. The actuators operate the bird movements.
One of the actuators can be clearly seen in the left-hand photo. The
connecting rod had to be cut away in places to avoid fouling tubes, etc.
The wing dowel is glued into a block fastened to the back of the wing.
The block is countersunk into the bird body to keep a close profile.
The beak is moved by a 'C'-shaped piece fixed to the wing dowel, which
moves a lever attached to the movable beak. These details can be clearly
seen in the left-hand photo, but the same principle applies to both birds.
Note that D and E flat pipes are mitred at the bottom instead of the
top, to leave clearance for the wing dowels. |
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The
Frog
The moving mouth/throat piece is attached to the
head at a pivot point at the base of the jaw. The connecting link comes straight
up from a bracket on the front bellows frame and attaches to a pivot point
on the moving mouth/throat piece located horizontal to the jaw pivot. This
creates a see-saw motion which gives alternating throat bulging then mouth
opening. |
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View of rear of frog |
Overall top view of organ |
Watch a video of the
organ
Daniel's latest creation "Monkey Business" can
be seen here
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