Adam_G wrote:Well it is slipping, but it's supposed to. That one gear is supposed to rotate on that shaft, but the problem is the hole in the middle of the gear has become worn an has excessive play so now it wobbles. After inspecting the shaft it goes on today I could see that the shaft was also worn down. So the shaft is now too small, and the hole in the gear is too big = wobbly gear. I'm hoping I can get a replacement gear, and if not I'll have to machine something to fix this.
The one other gear I may be able to fix with some shims, but the spindle shaft is a different story. I think I'd like to modify the bed plate and add a two small bearings to it so that it can't get worn out again like this. I'll illustrate this later on.
Some new surprises today after doing more cleaning:
- crank shaft bracket has a crack in it. The whole player was likely bumped or dropped with the crank handle in it which put too much strain on the cast bracket and cracked it. Not sure if it's a serious issue yet, so I'm thinking of just leaving it as is and worry about it when it properly breaks.
- one of the support rods was bent because it looked like the main spring barrel smashed into it at one time. I bent this back to mostly straight.
- Since the spring barrel smashed into that rod, it knocked a couple screws loose from the barrel (which are nowhere to be found). There was only 3 screws left holding the two barrels together, so I'm missing 5 screws.
- opened the two halves of the spring barrels to find that one spring looked really good, and the other not so much. The spring broke and someone tried to repair it with brazing. It kinda worked as it's still held together, but the massive blob of braze prevents to spring from coiling up evenly. And the heat from the repair has warped the spring so that it doesn't sit level at all. I'll need at least one new spring.
I'm thinking of maybe going a different route with this restoration. I think a resto-mod is in order. I'll be able to retrofit better/newer parts to the machine, and fix some of the mechanics of the motor with some tiny bearings.
Is that shaft fixed in place, or are there bearings at either end? Bearings would indicate that the shaft is meant to rotate, and therefore any gears should be fixed to the shaft. A free-rotating gear would likely have some stops on the shaft, to prevent it from moving laterally.
As for mainsprings: the conventional wisdom is that, if one spring is damaged, it is best to replace both. The difference between a 115 year old spring and a modern replacement could lead to the older spring being overstrained, causing it to break - and then you would need to replace another spring.
Bill