Well this one certainly jumped out at me! Nicely done. A note: traditionally at least, most metal organ pipes are a lead/tin alloy, cast in thin sheets on a linen covered level table and rolled up -- I saw it done in a tour of Austin Organ in Connecticut years ago. Sorta boggles the mind. Given the current excitement about lead it wouldn't surprise if there may be moves to other material. But the traditional alloy permitted all sorts of techniques to size and shape that would be far more difficult with the harder metals. In regard to the "modern" comment above, one might argue this is a "neo-Baroque" instrument, it has mechanical key action, but there is more to it. There's a bunch of info on the Manuel Rosales (builder) website. Quite an awesome beauty.
DWT, Thank You! I logged in just to see your comment, knowing you've forgotten more about the instruments than I'll ever know. Tin/lead - same stuff autobody work used to use before Bondo. 'Hard to believe anything at casting temps wouldn't consume the linen. Thank You very much for the link. It should be a treat.
As to casting temperatures, it depends on the alloy ratio, but pre-lead-free solder for electronic use is a so-called eutectic ratio (minimum melting temp) that melts at 183ºC/361ºF -- a little hot to grab with the fingers but not glowing orange or anything. The alloy for pipes is likely a bit different and higher melting than that, as making large structural pieces needs some tricks to keep them from squashing from their own weight. Presumably that's covered by about five or six centuries of experimentation.
@ DWThomas. It would be a shame if the lead hysteria meant that traditional techniques had been abandoned. I cannot really imagine how an organ pipe containing lead could harm anyone except perhaps during the manufacturing process. I had my house re-roofed last year (the old roof lasted 114 years which is reasonable I suppose) and a great deal of lead sheet was used for the flashings and valleys. All the water pipes in my house are lead too. Naturally, we re-used about 80% of the slates and all of the ridge tiles. I will be fascinated to follow your link. Bells are more my thing, being a church bell-ringer since I was a teenager. I have seen these being cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry (they cast your Liberty Bell). I could post some pictures of casting/pouring at Whitechapel -I found the negatives of a visit recently.
Ooh, yes, would be interested in seeing some bell casting! We have seen some problems over here with lead, although some of that is young children chewing on painted surfaces where lead paint had been used. I think in water pipes there are probably dependencies on the pH of the water or other minerals passing through, so the effort has been to get rid of lead altogether in plumbing. Lead in the body is cumulative and absorbs way faster than it goes out of the system. I have never worried about lead based solder in copper water piping, but I would not want straight lead pipe (especially on my well water). I am unsure whether I have pictures of that slab casting process I described -- some manufacturing operations forbid pictures, but I can't remember (this would have been early 1990s). If I find some, I'll put one or two up (from that time period in my life I can guarantee they were analog! )
Svenedin, seeing the bells cast would be a treat. 'Would love to see them. I would think you might also have access to some shots of bells & bell towers that would be quite rich.
DWT - it may well be that the flax fiber is used like a baking parchment in a bakery - a sacrificial sheet that allows release of the poured sheet.
Yes whether or not lead water pipes pose a health hazard depends on both the water pH and the hardness. In soft water areas with acidic water it could cause a problem particularly in the developing brain of a child. As you say, it is a heavy metal cumulative toxin. In my case, the water is very hard and slightly alkaline being drawn from chalk aquifers. I did have the water laboratory tested and the lead was undetectable as the pipes are internally coated with limescale so there is no contact with the metal. The Romans used to sweeten cheap wine with lead acetate. Not a good idea. It made people go mad and caused a particular type of gout (Saturnine gout).
I do have pictures of bells (somewhere). I think the oldest I have rung is from about 1380. My local bells are fairly new having been re-cast in 1912. My great-grandparents worked at a bell foundry (Gillett and Jonhston of Croydon). My great-grandfather made church clocks. I am not sure what my great-grandmother did.
In my local tower we have a photographic record of the new bells taken in 1912. They were of course extremely expensive, being a heavy peal of 10 bells (now 12) so I presume the parishioners wanted a good photographic record of where their money had gone.
On the subject of church organs, a colleague at work (a surgeon commander) told me that a church I admire in Gosport, Hampshire contains an organ played by Frederick Handel. I will try to visit at some point but I doubt I will match HiHo's beautiful photograph.