| Daniel's first animated Bird Organ
was shown on this web site in 2003. Now he has sent me details and
photos of his latest creation, which looks even better than the original.
He calls it "Monkey Business" for obvious reasons! It is
based on the John Smith Senior design, and has animation (of course) tapped
from the crank and bellows. |
Watch a video of the
organ |
My
Monkey Organ
Monkeys and street organs just seem to go together. I thought
that a renegade monkey running amok could be an amusing presentation for
an organ facade. I did a very quick sketch, then very minimal refinement
so as to keep a simple primitive look. I'm always thinking of movement
within the design, as I'm sketching. The movements are determined by
the design, I then work back inside the organ to tap onto moving parts to
acheive the motion. Range of motion is trial and error, adjusting lever
length and pivot location using temporary cardboard pieces as stand-ins.
The monkey's leg (swinging back and forth) and the foot (tapping pipe)
are driven from the front bellows. The hand holding the pipe gets its
motion from the crank shaft. All three of these pipes are playing pipes,
the longer tubing runs don't seem to matter, with the higher air pressure
of the Senior organ.
I wanted an 'interactive' feature in the design, so the monkey's jaw is
controlled by a lever at the back of the organ case. The smile can then be
effectively dispensed at appropriate moments! |
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| First assembly of unpainted monkey. Casework
and monkey constructed mostly of Baltic birch plywood from hobby shop.
Pipes of basswood with maple caps. |
Overall view of organ back showing clutch rod, draw catch on lid, rewind
crank, smile lever, etc. |
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The
Mechanics
Back view of monkey showing animation linkage for leg and foot/pipe. The
circular disc swings the legs in opposite directions. The disc is rotated
by the vertical link, which fastens to the front bellows board. |
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| The monkey's hand/pipe is operated from the crankshaft. The
brass link swings the vertical arm which pivots at the base, moving the crossbar
and rotating the dowel on the right. The dowel extends through to the
front of the organ, where it is connected to the monkey's hand by a short
length of tubing (right photo). |
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| Back of monkey's hand showing the dowel mounting block and countersink
in arm. Thin wall aluminium tubing inserted as bearing surface. |
This is the thumb lever on the back of the organ, to actuate the monkey's
jaw movement for smile. |
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Smile actuating linkage (behind fascia). |
Monkey smile! Wonderful for crowd interaction! |
| The Pressure
Box |
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| Clutch wedge: Drill block for 1/4" dowel and shape block
to wedge. File slight detent at base to hold idler wheel axle. Cut
dowel rod to give 3/4" protrusion through lid. |
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General layout of pressure box. |
Lid details: 1/4" plywood framework. 3/32" plywood for top with
6 x 9 oval opening. Cut rectangle of 1/8" Plexiglass then add 3/16"
plywood pieces on inside faces of frame to hold Plexiglass in place. |
Watch a video of the
organ |
