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Following a request from Chunny on another thread - here is the Algraphone I picked up cheaply the other day. It's a very basic model and in poor condition, but it's all there and it works! The lid and the shelf are badly damaged from having things stored on them over many years, the metalwork is in poor shape (especially the winding handle) and the handle and its decorative escutcheon for the pull-out horn deflector are broken - but it works very well! I did a quick re-gasket on the soundbox last night and have yet to lubricate the motor.

Edit - thanks Andreas for asking me to convert this thread to a Featured Phonograph one as follows:

Make: Algraphone (Alfred Graham Ltd)
Model: A204
Serial #: 1161
Year(s) Made: probably circa 1923
Original Cost: unknown
Case/Cabinet Size: 905 h x 415 w x 488mm d
Turntable/Mandrel:
Reproducer/Sound-Box: Sonat (original fitment)
Motor:
Horn Dimensions: 263 x 142mm
Reproduction Parts: none
Current Value: unknown
Interesting Facts: Alfred Graham Ltd are reputed to have made all their own parts. A number of unusual features can be seen in the photos including the horn deflector, brake, tonearm rest, speed markings, needle bar pivot mounting, etc. An Algraphone came 5th in the Gramophone Magazine trials in 1924.

More photos including the soundbox and ivorine needle protractor (very nice to have survived).

A very nice find and well worth the effort of restoration.

I particularly like the "Advance/Retard" control. Do remember to retard it before winding the machine, otherwise the handle may kick back .

epigramophone wrote:A very nice find and well worth the effort of restoration.

I particularly like the "Advance/Retard" control. Do remember to retard it before winding the machine, otherwise the handle may kick back .

It's all wrong! The brake is where the throttle should be!

Very nice. I like the Algraphones. It's the same model as one of mine but the motor is totally different.
Here's mine.

epigramophone wrote:A very nice find and well worth the effort of restoration.

I particularly like the "Advance/Retard" control. Do remember to retard it before winding the machine, otherwise the handle may kick back .

The "Advance/Retard" tickled me too! I would think this particular machine is unlikely to break any thumbs, touch wood...

chunnybh wrote:Very nice. I like the Algraphones. It's the same model as one of mine but the motor is totally different.
Here's mine.

Fascinating Chunny, exactly the same machine but with those differences! What's the serial number of yours? I've added mine in the first post above.

No serial number plate on mine . The motor is a Graham, same as the soundbox.

I believe the machine owned by Orchorsol might have been re-motored. Algraphones were unique in having their own motors and turntables as shown in the example owned by Chunny which is completely original in every way. The turntable, brake and speed control in the original pictures look all wrong to me and don't "fit" the rest of the machine very well. They certainly look wrong. Were Algraphones sold off cheaply when production ceased? If so could the example at the top be a machine that was supplied with a "foreign" motor in order to complete it at the end of a production run? Who knows but most collectors interested in Algraphone (are there more than 4 of us including myself and Chunny?!!) will expect the classic Algraphone motor and turntable combination as seen in Chunny's machine.

Algraphone made the very best machines in the early 1920's. Nothing from HMV could compete really. I think it's sad that so little is really known or documented about these worthy contributors to the art of the gramophone. Between all the evidence and literature that exists on early G & T / HMV and the late-comers like EMG, there is a gaping void.

I think it's sad that so little is really known or documented about these worthy contributors to the art of the gramophone

Sad indeed. They really were masters. The idea of Omni-Directional sound from a horned gramophone was way ahead of it's time.
here are a few pinched pictures from the WWWeb. What a varied selection they produced.

Steve wrote:I believe the machine owned by Orchorsol might have been re-motored. Algraphones were unique in having their own motors and turntables as shown in the example owned by Chunny which is completely original in every way. The turntable, brake and speed control in the original pictures look all wrong to me and don't "fit" the rest of the machine very well. They certainly look wrong. Were Algraphones sold off cheaply when production ceased? If so could the example at the top be a machine that was supplied with a "foreign" motor in order to complete it at the end of a production run?

Sure enough - to my surprise, literally a foreign motor! But there's no evidence of it ever having been any different. There are no other holes in the motorboard (which is not separate from the tonearm mounting etc, i.e. one piece front to back), the winding hole has not been moved, and the tracking is about right. I'm with your latter theory, Steve, but who knows!