The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

DaveMo,

Check to see if the hinge is "sprung", as below. Caused by having loose needles caught in the hinge and bending the hinge leaves, or from rough handling over the years. If the leaves are bent, they can be straightened.

Some good and thoughtful responses here again. I looked for a jammed needle, etc. a la Charlie's and Jerry's advice and found nothing. Ditto per Bill on a sprung lid. Nice photos, Andreas, and I can see that your machine's hinge matches mine, with no screw heads protruding. So at least one other machine out there has the same misalignment.

Not sure what I'm going to do at this point - maybe nothing, or just add some thicker felt pads at the front to help with alignment. I could go to work and inlay it myself, but then that would be modification to an antique.

I'm going to try to post here a sketch of what I think the problem is. My first drawing is of the existing hinge with the gap. Drawing 2 would be a better hinge configuration requiring no or very little little inlay. Perhaps the company changed hinges in the middle of a run, wanted the Victrola interior to get some fresh air, etc.!

Jerry:

How unreal! You and I both came up with similar sketches while on line at the same time! As I see it, the hinge I have doesn't appear to be sprung per your suggestion. However it just struck me while looking at your sketch that maybe the thing was installed backwards. I just might give a go at removal and flipping it the other way.

Thanks!

DaveMo...

PS: I forgot to mention to Greg above that I have all the parts for this machine, just not all installed. Thanks.

D...

DaveMo wrote:Some good and thoughtful responses here again. I looked for a jammed needle, etc. a la Charlie's and Jerry's advice and found nothing. Ditto per Bill on a sprung lid. Nice photos, Andreas, and I can see that your machine's hinge matches mine, with no screw heads protruding. So at least one other machine out there has the same misalignment.

Not sure what I'm going to do at this point - maybe nothing, or just add some thicker felt pads at the front to help with alignment. I could go to work and inlay it myself, but then that would be modification to an antique.

I'm going to try to post here a sketch of what I think the problem is. My first drawing is of the existing hinge with the gap. Drawing 2 would be a better hinge configuration requiring no or very little little inlay. Perhaps the company changed hinges in the middle of a run, wanted the Victrola interior to get some fresh air, etc.!

I agree with Jerry's comment that IF the hinge has been bent a little out of shape sometime during the last 100 years It could probably be hammered flat again to reduce the gap. Just a little bit to remove that little bend right next to the actual hinge. The idea of the hinge being installed backwards is also interesting. In any case I would carefully remove it and see where the problem lies.

Good luck!
Andreas

Andreas:

Well, I removed the hinge and it is in prime condition (no bends, warps, etc.). The hinge only fully closes in one direction, so it has been installed correctly. Under the lid part of the hinge, I found what appears to be a serial number punched into the wood (772). Still not sure what to make of all this. Problems at the Victor factory back in 1917?

As an aside, someone at the factory tacked a spare governor spring element onto the side of the wooden support stretched across the exterior bottom of the unit. Wish I'd seen this earlier as a lot of work fabricating a spring from tape measure material might have been avoided!

Thanks!

Dave...

One thought... is it possible that the original hinge was damaged and then replaced with the current one from another type machine? Normally, the original hinges close tighter than your drawing portrays...

Curt:

I think you might have hit the nail on the head! It appears that red paint at one time had been spilled on the hinge line, and I'm guessing the hinge might have been replaced for that reason. The hinge now installed is a flat hinge running the width of the cover and base. This flat hinge is the problem, so it seems to me a hinge with one leaf fully swaged would be more appropriate. Now, just trying to find such a critter with correct size and hole spacing will be the challenge.

Thanks for your suggestion!

Dave Mo...

Hello All:

Thought that I'd better bring this thread to a conclusion, at least the question concerning the height of the lid.

I ended up using the hinge that came with the machine, though it turns out that it was just too large. So, I increased the depth of the lower inset by ⅛ inch . The Dremel rotary tool came in handy, using it as a router with a gerry-rigged depth limiter, sharp bits and lots of TLC. Looks great now.

Dave...

, Where there is a will there is a way .. seems like you have it repaired good luck. Tom B