Shires Organ Pipes
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THE ART AND CRAFT
OF DISPLAY PIPES

​Decorative organ pipes made to your specification in our workshop

Display pipes by Shires on the Tickell organ of St Mary-le-Bow, London.
Display pipes by Shires on the Tickell organ in the Church of St Mary-le-Bow, London.
Shires has the skill and experience to make display pipes to your specification, such as those on the left created for the organ in St Mary-le-Bow, London.

We can also design the mouths according to your wishes, whether it be for the upper or lower lips. On this site you will see some of our display pipes featuring Roman, diamond or bayleaf patterns. Front pipes can be fitted with hooks or the hooks can be provided to be soldered on later.
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We can make removable panels on pipes for voicing, and languids on bass notes are ​always strengthened with a brass bar down to eight foot F. Zinc liners are fitted in the feet of the bass notes to prevent sagging. ​

On 16ft pipes, we solder a zinc sleeve on the inside of the body to strengthen it and guarantee that the pipe will never collapse. 
We also pay attention to alloys of tin – mainly copper – to help strengthen display pipes.

​ It is sometimes thought that the more tin there is in the alloy, the stronger the pipe will be, but this is not the case. 
An alloy containing 70 per cent tin is very weak, so careful consideration is taken at all times to the prevention of collapse.

The picture at the top of the page, by Nick Moore, is of the inside of a display pipe.
Picture
A decorative organ pipe made by our craftsmen in Leeds.
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Above: Terry Shires with a diamond pattern display pipe. And, right, lips worthy of Marilyn Monroe.
A decorative organ pipe made by Shires in Leeds.
A variety of display pipes made by the team at Shires, Leeds.

Creating organ pipes that shine like diamonds

A decorative pipe is marked out on plain metal in the Shires Organ Pipe workshop in Leeds.
A decorative pipe is marked out on plain metal in the Shires Organ Pipe workshop in Leeds.
A member of our team carefully marks out and then scores the pattern on a display pipe, left and above, in our workshop. The finished pipe, in an intricate diamond design, the result of hours of precise, highly skilled work, may be seen below.

A decorative display pipe in plain metal in our workshop in Leeds.

Gently does it: a demonstration of how to open a mouth on a display pipe

How is the mouth of a display organ pipe created? Here's our colleague Terry Doyle in the workshop making a highly skilled job look effortless on a pipe of 80 per cent tin.

A birthday jest for voicer, Guy

The handsome display pipe on the right, with two eyes, a nose and a mouth, is known as a Jester and was made in our Leeds workshop.

​It was commissioned for Guy Russell, right, the tonal director at Nicholsons Organs of Malvern, by his wife as a gift for his 65th birthday.

The team at Shires Organ Pipes was delighted to be involved in this special project for our good friend, Guy. 
A jester pipe made for Guy Russell by Shires Organ Pipes in Leeds.
Guy Russell, tonal director at Nicholsons Organs.

Contact us
Shires Organ Pipes Ltd
​
Unit 7a -7c, Spence Mills, Mill Lane,
Bramley, 
Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS13 3HE.
Phone: 0113 219 0221
​Registered No: 05601081.
TESTIMONIALS: Read what our customers have to say about us

NEWS: Keep up with the latest from our workshop
Picture
Supplier member

We manufacture, repair and restore metal organ pipes to a high standard from our workshop in West Yorkshire, UK. Please contact us to see how our team can assist your organ building or restoration project, no matter how large or small.
Website by Castle Media, West Yorkshire.
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© COPYRIGHT 2016. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About
    • All our Yesterdays
    • Privacy
    • Testimonials
  • Services
    • How an organ pipe is made >
      • Tools of our trade
    • Flue pipes
    • Reed Pipes
    • Display pipes
    • Restoration and Repair
    • Voicing
  • News
  • Gallery
  • Contact
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