Accidents Will Happen

Discussions on Talking Machines & Accessories
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PeterF
Victor IV
Posts: 1913
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:06 pm

Accidents Will Happen

Post by PeterF »

Although my post (http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =3&t=19396) is about breaking some records, I'm sure there are some stories to share about machine-related accidents as well.

Ok, tell us!

flashpanblue
Victor III
Posts: 768
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:15 pm
Location: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Re: Accidents Will Happen

Post by flashpanblue »

Hello,
O.K. here we go!! The shame of it. It was 1976 ( I was 21 years old)and I had only been collecting for four years. An antique dealer asked me to repair the motor on a horn Gramophone. It was one of those plain no name type European models. I repaired the motor and was in a hurry that day to return it to the dealer. I was walking fast down the steep driveway to my car when I tripped. As I took a nose dive I managed to hold the machine out in front of me. We landed hard on the gravel driveway. Though I still had the machine in my hands the base hit the ground and exploded into pieces!! as I lay there on the ground the shock of it began to wear off and I realized that nothing had actually broken. All the side panels and mouldings of the case had come apart but just where they had originally been glued together. I was able to reassemble the cabinet and glue it all back together. It looked as good as new! Ever since then when I carry a machine I walk slow and keep my mind focused on the task!!
Pete

epigramophone
Victor Monarch Special
Posts: 5204
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:21 pm
Personal Text: An analogue relic trapped in a digital world.
Location: The Somerset Levels, UK.

Re: Accidents Will Happen

Post by epigramophone »

As I was leaving an auction venue, a successful bidder was loading a cabinet gramophone into his car. He laid the machine on it's back, pushed it in and slammed the tailgate shut, whereupon the upper two legs smashed through the rear window.

As this post may be read by women and/or children I will not repeat the stream of expletives which followed. The gentleman concerned had a draughty ride home and a costly repair bill to come, but he also had some consolation as the gramophone appeared to be undamaged.

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Bruce_Van_Note
Victor I
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Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 1:08 pm
Location: Hesperia, CA

Re: Accidents Will Happen

Post by Bruce_Van_Note »

I bought a beautiful quartersawn oak VV-XI from a seller in Oklahoma City. He shipped through UPS. Somewhere during the delivery process, the phonograph was dropped upside down cracking the lid at the joints (didn't break the wood) and dislodging the horn support and record storage shelving. UPS heard from me with severely harsh comments. Don't ship an antique with UPS!
"No matter where you go, there you are"

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rizbone
Victor III
Posts: 544
Joined: Tue May 08, 2012 6:17 pm
Location: Maryland

Re: Accidents Will Happen

Post by rizbone »

Is there anyone here who hasn't attempted to carry an Edison cylinder machine by the handle? :oops:

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Ian
Victor O
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Joined: Mon Apr 09, 2012 1:53 pm
Location: Berkshire, UK

Re: Accidents Will Happen

Post by Ian »

Following the recent passing of a close friend, I inherited a tidy HMV 193 re-entrant cabinet gramophone. It was in an upstairs living room, so with the help of a friend, I carefully carried it down two flights of stairs.

Next, I lined the inside of my car with plenty of padding, mainly consisting of old pillows and blankets. Then we placed the machine carefully inside the car and I drove home; an uneventful 20 mile journey.

Once home, I sat down and enjoyed a cup of coffee, following which my wife helped me carefully remove the gramophone from the car and set it down on the driveway.

Has anyone worked out where this is heading yet? ;)

As I closed the tailgate of my car, I was astonished to see the padding mentioned above drenched in oil. Ditto the back of the gramophone cabinet! At this stage, I was really kicking myself, because I knew full well that these machines have the so-called oil-bath motor. Why on earth it didn't occur to me to extract it from the machine before transit I just don't know. It would only have taken a couple of minutes.

Of course, I did manage to clean out most of the oil using paper towels and there was no external contamination to spoil the cosmetic aspects of the machine. However, the odour of the oil is still noticeable within the room where it sits, serving as a constant reminder of my stupid mistake.
Ian

tinovanderzwan
Victor II
Posts: 345
Joined: Fri Aug 01, 2014 8:59 pm

Re: Accidents Will Happen

Post by tinovanderzwan »

my busy bee grand fell of the shelf once i was lucky,.. nothing broke
its a common thing with busy bee's they are top heavy i just din't know yet. i bet this happened to some of you guys too


tino

JerryVan
Victor Monarch Special
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Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 3:08 pm
Location: Southeast MI

Re: Accidents Will Happen

Post by JerryVan »

Years ago, I loaded a floor model, "low boy" cabinet, phonograph in a utility trailer to transport it home. It was an "off-brand" machine, but it was spotlessly clean and perfect. The first corner I turned, the top heavy machine flipped over the side of the trailer and went sliding down the road, upside down, on its lid. At the time, I nearly cried. As I look back on it now, imagining how it must have looked, I can actually laugh about it.

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