The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Just picked up one of these incredible machines in great condition but with one broken spring. Someone replaced the grille cloth with burlap. What is the correct cloth for this? I know the style of cloth, just not the color. The machines that seem most authentic to this non- expert on Google seem to have either gold or chocolate brown.

Any info?

Also, am I correct in assuming that the identical looking Victor double spring barrel will fit?

Thanks again in advance.

Congrats for the 130, it is a nice table top with a good sound. The original grille is golden-brown, with a texture and pattern that resembles the old radio cloths. The original is backed by a wire mesh and held together by wood pegs, which makes it hard to replace without completely damaging it. When you open the machine to replace it you will probably find the pegs that I am talking about - it is not an easy replacement. There was a guy in England that sold replacement cloths that looked very much like the original, maybe worth a search in the UK Ebay.

As to the compatibility between barrels, it is worth a try. I found that the HMV motors are not identical to the Victors, details like the speed dial (the one with the arrow, that the 130 does not have) differ. In terms of spring barrels, HMV utilized some grease probably made of used tires melted in molasses, that today is petrified in most if not all their barrels, and is a major contributor to the bumps and loud noises and finally to the breakage of springs, after the user tries to run them for a number of times. Victor used better grease.

CarlosV wrote:Congrats for the 130, it is a nice table top with a good sound. The original grille is golden-brown, with a texture and pattern that resembles the old radio cloths. The original is backed by a wire mesh and held together by wood pegs, which makes it hard to replace without completely damaging it. When you open the machine to replace it you will probably find the pegs that I am talking about - it is not an easy replacement. There was a guy in England that sold replacement cloths that looked very much like the original, maybe worth a search in the UK Ebay.

As to the compatibility between barrels, it is worth a try. I found that the HMV motors are not identical to the Victors, details like the speed dial (the one with the arrow, that the 130 does not have) differ. In terms of spring barrels, HMV utilized some grease probably made of used tires melted in molasses, that today is petrified in most if not all their barrels, and is a major contributor to the bumps and loud noises and finally to the breakage of springs, after the user tries to run them for a number of times. Victor used better grease.

Thanks for the info on the grille cloth. That's sort of what I thought but I wanted some reassurance.

I know what you mean about HMV grease... I also have a #32 project and the spring thumped so hard it gave the machine a real jolt first time I played it so I let it wind down and won't play it again till I get a chance to get the old grease out and service it.

http://www.retrospecialist.co.uk/ try this website for grille cloth.sid chaplin used to run it [who is well known in gramophone/radio circles] and now taken over by his son with sid in the background.

Very fine machine. Mine still has the original grille cloth, although in a bad state. I'm planning to change it too.
Here's what I've found so far :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Traditional-Rad ... SwPhdVNn3Z This one has the same weaving pattern as the original, but the colour is not quite right.

http://www.bendijkman.nl/index.php/luid ... fine-cloth This one is more like it, colour-wise.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rustic-Orange-s ... SwcldUZe~y Or maybe that "rustic orange" one, but the picture isn't as good.

I'll try to post a picture of my hmv 130 cloth, if you want to see what it looks like.

canyr wrote:Very fine machine. Mine still has the original grille cloth, although in a bad state. I'm planning to change it too.
Here's what I've found so far :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Traditional-Rad ... SwPhdVNn3Z This one has the same weaving pattern as the original, but the colour is not quite right.

http://www.bendijkman.nl/index.php/luid ... fine-cloth This one is more like it, colour-wise.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rustic-Orange-s ... SwcldUZe~y Or maybe that "rustic orange" one, but the picture isn't as good.

I'll try to post a picture of my hmv 130 cloth, if you want to see what it looks like.

If you don't mind, I'd like that- thanks!

Well, pulled it down today expecting to find a double spring motor but it appears as it's an HMV #69, and the issue with it is that the rivet that holds the outer spring coil to the can has pulled through the can.

What's the best approach here? Obviously a pop rivet is out of the question, even with a washer on the outside. What was used here originally? Any idea? Would a nut and bolt work in a pinch with the bolt head rounded and on the inside, nut on the outside with locktite and the threads peened?

You can see the weaving pattern in the second one. And here are some links if you'd like bigger images for greater detail:

https://postimg.org/image/r22smhlwz/
https://postimg.org/image/8ns9ii9mb/
https://postimg.org/image/q2chqs6r7/

gramophone-georg wrote:Well, pulled it down today expecting to find a double spring motor but it appears as it's an HMV #69, and the issue with it is that the rivet that holds the outer spring coil to the can has pulled through the can.

What's the best approach here? Obviously a pop rivet is out of the question, even with a washer on the outside. What was used here originally? Any idea? Would a nut and bolt work in a pinch with the bolt head rounded and on the inside, nut on the outside with locktite and the threads peened?

Very strange. The HMV No.69 single spring motor was fitted to the Model 130's little brother, the model 104. Is it possible that your machine is a 104 and not a 130, or do you have a 130 which has been re-motored?

It definitely looks like it's a 130, there's a glimpse of the "carved" rectangles on the top corners of the case, plus this has feet, which the 104 didn't. Sounds like it's been re-motored.

The problem with replacing the rivet with a nut and bolt is that there has to be a space behind the head of the bolt for the spring to hook into. So how do you peen over the threaded end and still leave that gap? It would be far simpler to get hold of another spring drum, they are very common.