The 15 euro gramophone/phonograph

[nostalgia]

Two days ago I had the opportunity to skip one cheap dinner, and instead buy this gramophone for 15 euro. The choice was not hard.I collected it last night, and took it out of the car this morning.
The soundbox tells it is a German Polyphon (?), the wooden horn, that is unfortunately ruined at the outer end, even if I have no clue how long it is supposed to be at the time of writing. Because of the wooden horn I would also guess it is a pre 1920 model, but if someone knows better, it is of course valuable information. There is no bottom cover, the spring is destroyed, and also the elbow pipes and connections do not fit correctly due to small dents at the connective parts of these parts. One can also see that a corner is destroyed, the gramophone has been in wrong hands for some time, and so admitted the last owner.
Do you think it is possible to save it? If so, this will be my first restoration project. The hard part will maybe be to find a wooden horn, but still..if it is not possible to find, I would still like to restore it, even if I had to use the existing horn. Opninions appreciated, and...I hope you can enjoy the photos, of this obvious early tube gramophone.

[soundgen]

Nice find well worth restoring and 15 Euros WOW

[VanEpsFan1914]

I like it already. The motor looks like a good one and the design on the front of the case is pure 1915. Looks like a title card for an old silent movie.

[nostalgia]

Yes, I like it too, and yes, the motor looks good. I have not started any restoration yet, but will ask for opinions here on the forum
on how to repair the corner of the gramophone. I see no other options than using a small saw? I need disassemble the glued parts
to try to find a wood of similar type and finish?
-Nostalgia-

[Lucius1958]

Yes, I like it too, and yes, the motor looks good. I have not started any restoration yet, but will ask for opinions here on the forum
on how to repair the corner of the gramophone. I see no other options than using a small saw? I need disassemble the glued parts
to try to find a wood of similar type and finish?
-Nostalgia-

Is the corner piece integral to the panel, or is it glued in?

There are a couple of options: either you can remove the corner piece, and replicate the entire thing from a block of appropriate wood; or you can plane down the broken side, and glue in a block that has been grooved to match the other side.

Bill

[Inigo]

I would tempt you to rebuild the soundbox and then try to build an exponential horn suited to this size of sound tube. The original horn is lost anyway, and this would be a reversible change that could make this machine sound very good.
The delicate point is the soundbox, but I could guide you in this reconstruction to improve the bass response and overall soundbox efficiency. I can tell you what would I do, then you try it and we see the results. We can share videos to see the sound...
Regards,

[nostalgia]

Inigo: I am very grateful for your offer, and yes, when you have time, I would be very happy to receive some guidance, even by video, to refurb the soundbox, and carefully start the restoration and build up of this gramophone. I admit that my non technical background is making me very nervous to touch it, and I need to walk slowly. The appearance of Mr. Reiss on the forum, has also ignited my decision to buy his book, it should be a perfect match and offline help for this and future restoration projects. I will myself also share videos, when prompted. I am not totally impractical as a person, but the delicate nature of the gramophones/phonographs, and also the fact that one big mistake can ruin it all, is preventing me from starting out alone without guidance. If however, this thread also can work as a small course in gramophone restoration for other (new or old) forum members who not yet have restored or repaired a gramophone/phonograph, everything becomes more interesting too. After all, the most important part of collecting is to be able to repair and restore, if the majority of collectors abstain from doing this work, we of course have a problem. Storing/collecting molested or non working gramophones is not for the good of anyone, and for sure not paying any homage to the gramophone and phonographs themselves. So yes, I am ready, if you (and everyone else in here) can bear with me my in my lack of repair/restoration/terminology knowledge at the time of writing, but instead (at least in this unique thread) focus on my and other (newbies or oldies) interest and eagerness in learning, and see this as a win win situation also for future generations of collectors, having the guts and growing knowledge of repairing and restoring their gramophones/phonographs.
-Nostalgia-

[nostalgia]

This was one of my first threads on the forum, more than a year ago. A lot have happened since then, but yesterday my eyes fell on this machine, one of the last projects to attack this late summer, while resting my fingers some days from changing main springs etc.
I have no clue how big the horn on this machine was in the past. Does someone have a clue? I yesterday cleaned and waxed the cabinet, and checked the motor, which runs with no problems. A double spring motor, that looks good. I am not sure if it is a Parlophone motor or not, but I don't see the £ mark on the motor itself, even if it in many ways reminds me of some Parlophone motors I serviced earlier this summer.
Inigo, if you read this ( or anyone with similar ideas), you mentioned the possibility of building an exponential horn to substitute the original horn. When I hear "exponential horn", I think EMG, apart from that I know nothing about exponential horns or how to possibly build one.
Does someone have a suggestion, on how to make a horn for this gramophone? I could of course look for a metal horn, that would be the easy way out, but since the wood part is still there, it also is tempting to try prolong it, if it can be possible.
I still also have not repaired the broken corner panel. Finding suitable wood is one thing, but finding a carving instrument/tools to imitate the pattern, has been harder. I guess I will have to use a file or carver, but how to make it looks good and get straight lines..well. Again, any ideas and suggestions are welcome.
I have been close to put the machine on permanent storage, but decided to open the thread for possible suggestions, before discarding the project.

I have sand papered the rim of the horn, so it looks a bit better. The corner panel that is broken is now also possible to easily remove from the cabinet. It was glued, and not too hard to remove without distorting the rest of the cabinet.

[Inigo]

This is a marvel! How good it looks! It's going to be difficult to build a horn of the sufficient quality to match that of the machine...
At the right side in your photo we can see another similar gramophone also with a short horn start... It's a similar case?

[nostalgia]

Maybe it is better to find a good looking metal horn for this gramophone, it is rather tempting.
The machine to the right is a Beka, the machine coverede in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=41212
The Beka is serviced and about ready to be sold, I find no space for ut at home, unfortunetely. I could get rid of some HMV table models to keep the Beka, but they are also diffcult for me to depart with....