Sydney Opera House organ built using a Shopsmith 10ER

[Maurice]

Here's a fun fact I doubt almost anyone knows...

A few days ago I posted on an Australian woodworking Facebook group asking if anyone has or knows what a Shopsmith is. The grandson of Peter Hall, the architect who took over the Sydney Opera House after Utzon walked, told me the entire organ in the Sydney opera house was built with one as the sole power tool (he knows the makers son).

So I did some digging and sure enough, the organ was built by Ronald (Ron) Sharp from southern Sydney. He was self taught, did piano tuning for a living and built organs on the side. Took him about ten years and it's the biggest mechanical tracker-action pipe organ in the world, over 10,000 pipes, five manuals, finished in 1979.

As far as I know this is the only place the Shopsmith connection has been written down. But I did find something really cool: a 1960 ABC video of him building his first organ in his backyard, and you can spot a 10ER in the background a few times:

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/classic/r ... y/13704518

[RFGuy]

Maurice,

Very cool. Thanks for sharing that. I knew before my trip to Australia that the Sydney Opera House would be impressive, but words don't really capture it fully. Until you see it in the distance and then walk up to it, or even walking inside of it...only then do you realize just how impressive it really is. The structure is very large structure and the architecture is magnificent. Makes sense that an equally impressive organ would be inside of it.

[chapmanruss]

Maurice,

Thank you for sharing that bit of Shopsmith history. In the picture you can see the second name plate on the Headstock for the company that made the Model 10E (actually a 10ER) in Australia. From what I have found about the Shopsmith Model 10's made in Australia they were done near the end of production of the Model 10ER in the US. I believe the reason they have the Model 10E Shopsmith Logo/Serial Number Plate is they were left over when the Model 10E became the Model 10ER (using that Model ER Plate) in the US. The serial numbers on the Australian made Model 10E's started lower than the US made ones. For the Australian serial numbers the lowest I have seen is S/N 264 and the highest is S/N 1594 from the Skip Campbell survey. The lowest I know of for the US made Model 10E is S/N 1009.

[jsburger]

Skip Campbell

[chapmanruss]

Thanks for the correction, John.

Now corrected in my previous post.

That's what happens when I am thinking about two of our Shopsmith community members at the same time. Skip Cambell and Everett Davis.

[RFGuy]

In watching the video, I never knew that these organ pipes may be constructed out of lead. Watching him put his mouth on one of these pipes to check tune of it gives me a shudder. I wonder what lead poisoning health effects he and his wife had from doing this work. Sad that it wasn't well known the hazards back then.

[Maurice]

I thought the same thing, totally different times. Interestingly he lived to 91!

Russ - check it out, I think I found an older one, serial number 240? It was for sale recently. I have a few more I will dig up, I contacted everyone who was selling one in Australia a few months back.

These were supplied by Facebook Marketplace sellers, so quality is what it is.

[RFGuy]

I thought the same thing, totally different times. Interestingly he lived to 91!

Maurice,

That's great that he lived to 91, but the human body organ most affected by lead exposure is the brain so behavioral or neurological symptoms would present before physical ones do. I sincerely hope that I am wrong, but I am certain he was probably affected negatively by this work. Not trying to take away from the thread, it just reminds me how much has changed based on what we know today versus back then. To me, it just reinforces that PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) is important for one's health no matter what one's hobby or work is. Getting back to the thread, I am still surprised that some Shopsmith equipment made it all the way to Australia. I know some have gotten to the UK and perhaps Europe as well. I do wonder how many did get exported and where they landed around the world? Also how many are still in use? I hope you are able to get everything you need to refurbish your Shopsmith.

[chapmanruss]

Maurice,

The Plate with 240 looks more like a Motor information Plate not the Shopsmith Logo/Serial Number Plate. The Plate below is from my 1947 Model 10E which is the same plate design used later on the Australian Model 10's I have seen. I have only seen couple of them. Note the serial number (for this one 1033) is on the lower part of the plate just above the rivet that holds in on the headstock.

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10E 1033 St Helens OR RLC.JPG (205.59 KiB) Viewed 165 times