Anatomy of a WurliTzer Theatre Pipe Organ
Restoration begins on the working parts.
The order of restoration was selected mostly by the criteria of what was easiest to get
at. It all has to be done sometime so the order is not too significant. The most important
exception being the console whose finish is going to be seen the most so it should be done
as close to the time it will be seen as possible. It would also be useful to know where
the console will go so that the most suitable finish could be chosen.
As it happened the trems came first. These were done one at a time, dismantling
each back to the 70 odd parts, refinishing all the wood and preparing them for
releathering and reassembly. Unfortunately I was still waiting for the leather so I
packed the first set of parts away and did the next, and the last. Still no leather so
all three sets of parts went into storage. At least they take up less space when in kit
form.
All the brass escutcheon pins holding the trim strips around the pneumatic cloth
on the trems were badly corroded at the point they were in contact with the cloth
and the glue. Some were so corroded they broke off as they were being extracted.
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