PLANTATION OF THE PIPES.

We explained in a former page that it is well to plant all the pipes upon the sound-board before the pallets are fitted, because dust and chips are inseparable from the operation, and may be troublesome and mischievous if introduced into the grooves and conveyances. Some of our readers, therefore, having their stock of pipes by them, have perhaps already perused this chapter and acted upon its suggestions. It has been reserved, however, for this place in our work, in accordance with our wish to meet the case of workmen and young beginners who are under the necessity of proceeding by degrees.

Possessing a turning-lathe, and resolving to turn the wooden pipe-feet yourself, you will doubtless commence by boring four or more holes in a bit of thin board with centre-bits of different sizes as a guide or gauge for the diameters of the pipe-feet. If you mount this little board at a height of 4½ inches above another board or stand, by pillars or legs, it will represent a portion of your rack-board, and as you rapidly throw off the feet in the lathe they will be as quickly sorted by passing them into these trial holes. The billet of wood, pine, willow, sycamore, or any other suitable stuff, should be bored while still in the rough by a bit revolving in the lathe. The bore cannot then fail to be central. It should ultimately be scorched with a hot iron, unless, indeed, your borer has been so well suited to the wood as to render unnecessary any further smoothing. The feet will be slightly conical, the smaller end tapered off to fit the countersunk hole on the board, the larger formed into a neck with a shoulder (see Fig. 1).

The rack-pins should be of mahogany or oak, with a shoulder at each end, the necks fitting tightly in the holes provided for them already. These necks may be blackleaded, to facilitate removal.

All the holes may now be bored in the rack-board corresponding to our two wooden stops (Nos. 2 and 4), at the points marked long ago, when the grooving was finished; the board may be placed on its rack-pins, and the feet dropped into their places, adjusted, where necessary, with a half-round file. The pipes may then receive their feet one by one, and if your calculations have been correct and your measurements accurate they should stand in orderly array. Use the spirit-level, square, and plumb-line in planting the pipes, to ensure truly horizontal and perpendicular lines. The feet should not be actually glued into the blocks until the last little adjustments have been given.

In planting the metal pipes, holes 2 inches or more in diameter will be required in the bass, while those in the extreme treble will be little larger than a common quill. Adjustable bits may be bought, clever contrivances producing beautifully true circular holes (see Chap. II.). In the absence of these, we recommend you to use discs of stiff paper or cardboard, representing the exact size, as ascertained by callipers, of the conical foot of the pipe at about 5 inches from its lower extremity; from these discs the outline of the holes may be traced on the board, and all the holes, great and small, may be cut out with a pad-saw, or bored with common bits, in every case a trifle smaller than they are ultimately to be. Then, the rack-board being in place, each pipe may be adjusted in its position by using a half-round rasp, and similar or rat-tail files. With these you will easily give a conical form to the holes in the board.

Great care will be well bestowed in this operation. If, unfortunately, you cut any hole too large, line it with a morsel of soft leather. But every true workman will desire to resort as seldom as possible to this expedient.

Probably none of the metal pipes will require to be grooved off. But this you have attended to long ago. If any of them are grooved off, take care that the grooves are of ample size, that the wind may not be throttled.

When all the pipes are planted, whatever the arrangement which you have adopted, they should gratify the eye by their perfect symmetry.

"If they do not look well they will not sound well," was a good maxim long ago impressed upon the writer by an ingenious German workman, to whom he was indebted for much valuable information.