The Reuter Organ Company

        Reuter Organ Company of Lawrence Kansas has been in business since 1917. They are the largest organ manufacture in North America and have in fact been making quality organs for near a century now. An organ according to Google is a large musical instrument having rows of tuned pipes sounded by compressed air, and played using one or more keyboards to produce a wide range of musical effects. The pipes are generally arranged in ranks of a particular type, each controlled by a stop, and often into larger sets linked to separate keyboards.
       Reuter builds their instruments from a variety of materials from quality hardwoods to cast on location metals. The construction of the organs starts with the planning and rendering of the instrument. Originally all plans and renderings were done by artists and drafters in house. But now this process is sped along with the help of programs like C.A.D.D..

 

After the instrument is designed and rendered production can begin.

All of the internal wooden parts to the organ are made from a type of wood called poplar. This is because of the straight clean knot free nature of the wood. It makes it an excellent choice for the air tight internal components of the organ. Once these parts are complete craftsmen can begin work on the external features of the box such as facades and the pipes themselves. Using a large variety of shears, saws, sanders, CNC routers, castings, and clamps the organ begins to come to life.

 

As the case is being made the pipes themselves must be manufactured. This as well is done in house out of sheet metal using copper and zinc.

For the larger pipes the zinc must be cast into sheets by melting ingots down and passing them over a slate table in a grooved trough to produce a sheet of soft malleable zinc.

Once these are made they are then rolled by hand over a dye to produce a pipe anywhere from 8 to 16 feet long.

When all the parts are complete the organ is assembled and tested to ensure that it works properly. The electrical circuit boards are wired and everything is labeled to be reassembled at the clients site.

Reuter doesnt only manufacture organs but they also maintain the ones they have sold. By tuning and repairing the organs they ensure quality and performance to their customers.

After the organ is repaired and tuned properly it is returned to the customer where it will continue to serve them well for many years after.