The Duplex Pipe Organ and Blower Company Ltd

The finished motor and picking up the casing and frame this week ready for assembly!!

One of today’s activities repairing the bearing housing that goes with the previous duff bearing. Insert machined in cast iron and pressed into the bored out housing so that materials match and the housings brought back to its original form.

The offending bearing from the same blower also Fridays fall out. There was something that didn’t sit right with this not least as it was a pain to get out of the housing and they’re normally pretty straightforward. Took me a while to realise someone had made it backwards with the oil ring on the wrong side of the self aligning bulge. 😂😂Luckily reclaiming it this way will allow that to be corrected! It also appears to be phosphor bronze rather than leaded bearing bronze which in part accounts for the severe damage to the shaft. Just in case anyone’s wondering the bigger bearing pictured is prepped for St Paul’s and just there to show how the oil ring goes on the smaller diameter side.😁

One of Fridays jobs on a shaft from a much abused theatre organ blower.

Also progress with new bearings and rotor repairs for Halifax and weee meidinger for Oxford. Quite a difference in both the size and age of the rotors!!!😂😂 Never mind the monster impeller out of Halifax has to be the biggest single impeller I’ve had up on the balancing machine and possibly one of the most out of balance!!🤣🤣

The final bearing fittings for Dublin!

Today was progress on two fronts that included stage one in resurrecting the unbelievably damaged millns motor. Regrinding the front shaft and machining a new thrust plate. More to follow! Oh and cutting oil ways in big old 1920’s Discus bearings plus pulling apart a slightly abused meidinger of more modest dimensions.

I’ve seen some pretty abused motors in my time but this is definitely one of the worst. It had previously been ‘repaired’ but can’t help but feel most of this damage must have occurred whilst being repaired which is a bit ironic! Another challenging salvage job!!!