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Le Bengali intermediaire restoration

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:28 am
by walser
Hi,

I've been asked to restore this "Bengali intermediaire" reproducer.
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It needs a new stylus and a swivelling connector. I also suspected that the cork/pressed wood ring attaching the diaphragm was not original.
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I did some research and managed to have a picture of a complete one to have a reference. The owner told me that he was almost sure that instead of a spider it must had a dome mounted stylus.
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I started by analyzing the ebonite to look for cracks and I found 3 problematic areas around the perimeter.
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Fearing that I could end with multiple pieces I decided to remove only the external ring that holds the diaphragm.
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I then started doing the ring.
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And after tons of swarf it ended like this:
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Its a light press fit to avoid putting pressure on the cracks. I might cheat a little bit and glue it with shellac after plating it.
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Then I attacked the connector. The body was the first piece I turned.
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Again, as the collar had a small crack I opted to do a very light press fit and I will glue it.
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I notice that the connector is at a slight angle downwards and not straight like the Pathé. I will post a picture of it when its finished.
Last thing I did was the swivelling ring. I did 2 just because I had enough tube.
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And that's all for this week end.
I still need to do:
Connector external ring
Vertical shaft
Stylus holder
Put it all together
Nickel plating

Stay tuned!

Re: Le Bengali intermediaire restoration

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 8:16 am
by epigramophone
I trust that the owner will be duly grateful for the time and skill you are devoting to this restoration.

Re: Le Bengali intermediaire restoration

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 9:51 am
by walser
Tiny update:

During lunch time I managed to squeeze some minutes on the lathe and did the external ring. As usual I try to make something different to differentiate it from a genuine piece. In this case, I made the knurling in the opposite direction.
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As you can see in this last picture, the connector is slightly angled downwards.

Regards,

Pedro Martínez

Re: Le Bengali intermediaire restoration

Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2018 8:54 am
by walser
Small update on the progress.

This weekend I only managed to work one hour on the reproducer and nickel plated the retaining ring and connector. Only the sapphire needs to be installed. I will turn a small socket to install it on the dome.
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Regards

Pedro Martínez

Re: Le Bengali intermediaire restoration

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 9:41 am
by walser
Its done!

Last night I was able to finish it.

First thing was to create a stylus of borosilicate glass and make sure the tip was perfectly round:
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Then a tiny socket was turned:
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Some minuscule drops of shellac later gave this nice dome:
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And some minutes later it was glued to the diaphragm and this is the end result:
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Tomorrow it will be shipped back to its owner.

Regards,

Pedro Martínez

Re: Le Bengali intermediaire restoration

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 9:43 am
by alang
Once again I admire your skills. Well done.

Andreas

Re: Le Bengali intermediaire restoration

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 10:33 am
by TinfoilPhono
Stunning workmanship. I envy your skills.

Re: Le Bengali intermediaire restoration

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:36 am
by Gramtastic
Excellent workmanship !!

Re: Le Bengali intermediaire restoration

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 2:44 pm
by fonografica
Hola.
Cuanto cobras por restaurar un reproductor?
Saludos
Tony

Re: Le Bengali intermediaire restoration

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 3:01 pm
by walser
Te envío un privado