Started on the Roberts Bestone

[Marco Gilardetti]

What's so special with the handle? Isn't it easier to devise a handle from some other gramophone that is quite similar to the original, and buy a replacement?

As for the demonstration, perhaps arranging a pair of youtube videoclips would be more practical.

[Lah Ca]

What's so special with the handle?

It is slightly unusual in its dimensions. Most, but not all, portable phonographs have the horn below the motor board, and many have larger deeper motors. The Bestone machine has the horn above the motor board, and its motor is quite small and is relatively shallow in comparison to those of the other portables I own.

For the Bestone, the approximate measurement from the centre of the crank escutcheon to the surface the machine rests on is a mere 2 ¾" or about 7 cm. So the throw of any replacement crank has to be very short. Also the diameter of many crank shafts is greater than 5/16th". Neither of the two cranks from my other portables could be adapted.

I reached out to a collector in another city whom I met through CAPS. As a long-time collector, he has an extensive collection of machines and parts. He went through something like 30 to 40 cranks in his box of spare cranks and found only one that might work.

Isn't it easier to devise a handle from some other gramophone that is quite similar to the original, and buy a replacement?

Maybe, yes. Maybe, no.

I have looked online and found nothing. My local resources are limited. Among my peer group, I am the only person who indulges in this eccentric and highly enjoyable hobby.

[Lah Ca]

As for the demonstration, perhaps arranging a pair of youtube videoclips would be more practical.

Yes, but if I were actually practical, I would have a subscription to Spotify or similar and would have no physical recordings, gramophones, CD decks, tape decks, turntables or stereo equipment.

I would have a Smartphone, probably an iPhone, and a Bluetooth speaker.

I do have a smartphone, though.

[Lah Ca]

I will probably start work on the damaged right edge of the open case this weekend.

My plan at present is to part the separated layers of cardboard roughly in the middle, drill down into the thicker stable cardboard below in multiple places with a very thin drill bit, insert pre-cut lengths of heavy gauge unwound guitar G string doped with glue, and then let it set.

Next, I would start gluing the layers back together over the lengths of guitar string with a diluted white glue, starting with the centre layers, and then clamp it all straight and let it set. Then move out to the next layers, if they are still loose and the diluted glue has not soaked through. And then move out to the layers of rexine. I don't want to try gluing it all at once--too much risk of glue overflow--too much risk of clamps sticking to the rexine.

Once it is more or less back together, I would laminate a thin Japanese silk tissue cloth over the damaged area.

And lastly I would try to match a paint colour to the rexine, and paint the repaired area, maybe with a sponge brush to give the finish a bit of texture.

We shall see.

The damaged area, again, and the Japanese silk tissue, which is very strong.

[Lah Ca]

I got a reprieve from other tasks because of the weather, so I started on the cardboard and rexine repair.

If I had a chance to do it again, I would do a better job, but it was a one shot deal. In the unlikely event that I ever have to do another similar repair, I will know better.

The results are not as lumpy as they look in the pictures. It was hard to get it all straight because the side of the case is not straight and because the damaged area was so badly damaged.

The silk tissue is so thin that the texture of the rexine can be seen through it where I managed to get good pressure with the clamps, and running a finger down along the rexine and over the silk, you can hardly feel it is there. I could probably put another lamination of it on but ...

There are some silk fuzzies to clean up, yet, and it should look better if I can match a paint colour.

Anyway it is all fairly secure now. And the top with the horn comes down now without hitting the damaged edge.

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[Inigo]

It's not bad, it's now strong, functional, and tells the story behind it. Nice work!

[An Balores]

Excellent work! Your "If I had a chance to do it again, I would do a better job" will resonate with many. It often is a case of finding your own way round unusual problems and there are more than one way of doing some things. Your solutions have been very inventive and have paid off so well done!

[Lah Ca]

Thanks to the extreme kindness of a fellow CAPS member, I now have a crank that can be adapted.

The shaft is probably just a little too long, which is actually good since I will need to cut it down as the end is too thin at the moment.

The throw of the crank with the diameter of the wooden handle is maybe 1/16" or ⅛" too long--it won't quite clear the surface the machine sits on. It would probably have worked when the machine was new and it actually rested on its metal feet. This is a minor problem, and if necessary, I can reduce the diameter of the handle slightly.

There is a bit of rust to remove, but the wooden handle does not come off easily, if at all. It was probably pressed on and then a spring wire clip locked it into place. I have tried gently pulling it off. I almost got it, but two bits of spring wire popped out through holes in the wood of the handle that had been filled and finished over. So I gently pushed the handle back on, and the wires retracted back into the wood. Better to leave the handle on than to risk not being able to get it back on. The handle will make a rust remover bath awkward, but not impossible.

I also learned something from the CAPS member, too. Now I need to practice centre drilling so that I can get a precise slot cut in the shaft.

The donor crank:

Compare to CarlosV's original crank here: download/file.php?id=189155&t=1

How the original Bestone crank might have been stored:

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This storage method would probably have worked OK-ish as long as the case was transported vertically (with the carrying handle up). But it is not a particularly secure method of storage, and there is danger of the crank coming loose and doing damage to the reproducer and other things.

[Lah Ca]

It's not bad, it's now strong, functional, and tells the story behind it. Nice work!

Excellent work! Your "If I had a chance to do it again, I would do a better job" will resonate with many. It often is a case of finding your own way round unusual problems and there are more than one way of doing some things. Your solutions have been very inventive and have paid off so well done!

Thank you both for your kind encouragement. It means and has meant a lot as I have stumbled along here.

[Lah Ca]

I picked up my shipment of natural gum sheet rubber today and tried cutting a replica of the gasket/washer between the reproducer and the tone arm. It is nice material, probably something very similar to what Roberts used originally, very different properties to silicon or nitrile.

Ref: https://rubbersheetwarehouse.com/produc ... -tan-40a-5

The original gasket/washer is quite hard, doesn't seal well, and doesn't do much in the way of dampening any mechanical vibration between the reproducer and the arm. The new ⅛" gasket material works much better. The material has an approximate Shore Hardness of 40, so it is quite compliant in forming a seal. Its relative softness also has greater dampening qualities.

It is very hard to cut rubber gaskets without specialised tools (or experience or skill), so my fist attempt here came out ever so slightly out of round. It is still serviceable, though.

I came up with a way of using my drill press to cut the larger circle and I used a hollow punch to cut the centre hole but used a large Bessey clamp (in place of a hydraulic press) rather than a dead blow hammer.

The first attempt:

Screenshot from 2024-03-01 13-48-59.png (347.06 KiB) Viewed 257 times