Any calliope enthusiasts around?

Steamer,

Getchself on a real steamboat and hang around the caliope bar while the caliope is being demo'd. It will get you out of the mood to mess around with caliopes - guaranteed. Besides, if you are using steel for the tubes, rust will become the problem - not the precise tone of each tube.

--Reason I ask: I'm making whistles and am finding that I can make just about anything toot but I'm having a horrible time tuning the damned things! Any help appreciated. I've been studying this page:

...but I'm having a hard time making sense of some of the nomographs. Would like to chat with whomever about the things I may be getting wrong.

--Would love to go on that trip but it'll have to wait 'til I can afford it! Am using brass wherever possible.

Good for you Steamer. I kinda figured you knew better than to use steel for saunas.

--Would love to go on that trip but it'll have to wait 'til I can afford it! Am using brass wherever possible.

I dunno nuttin bout calliopes, but in my enthusiasm for pipe organs, I've accumulated some large pipes. They are tuned by the very precise method of cutting a strip of metal out of the top of the pipe (in the rear, where it can't be seen). The strip is not detached at the bottom, but rolled up (down); it kinda reminds me of the metal that used to come off of sardine cans.

These are open-ended pipes, though. I don't know how they tune closed pipes.

When I get my regenerative blower going this summer, I'm gonna find out how they sound. Maybe someday I'll actually find an old pipe organ for sale that needs work (meaning I can afford it).

Thanks for the calliope whistle link, BTW

Joe

It's not unusual for churches to get rid of their pipe organ to replace it with an electronic one. No more tuning money out and they don't seem to appreciate the old pipe organs. Could be inexpensive if you did the removal. We could have had one for a very reasonable price in the 70's but would have had to pull up the floor on the second floor to have the height. Make friends with some church organists and put the word out that you want one. Karl

Heh heh, my wife was music director for her church for 25 years, but they already had an electronic one. One contact she made offered me a B3 for a good price, but I was broke at the time, so that fell through. However, what you suggest is exactly what I keep my eyes opened for. Turns out a co-worker lives "next door" (in the country) to a person whose family builds pipe organs. She mentioned that there was one in storage in OH with minor damage (split wood pipes, etc) that had come out of a funeral home years ago, and could be had for under a grand. Unfortunately, the contact name I had was in the Phillipines installing an organ, and when he got back, it was gone.

I'll never give up hope, though.

I built my living room with 12 foot ceilings, so I can make anything fit that I'm likely to find. I saw some photos of a guy who installed his large pipes horizontally in a conventional-height room. Still, you need a lot of volume (cubic feet, that is) to make a pipe organ sound right. Won't do too well in a small space, even if it fits.

Joe

Good luck. You''ll probably find one sooner or later. Karl