Restored Columbia AT, It's Alive!

[kirtley2012]

This machine came in a moment of weakness from Ebay, it had the usual problems, pot metal trunnion and upper works, severely distorted and a few missing parts and had obviously not been run in a long long time!

(See as it arrived here: http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=37222)

I decided to give it a second chance at life, I replaced the upper works with one restored by Gregg Cline, got a reproducer for it and brass trunnion, there was a problem with the break arm under the bedplate, it had become mis-shaped and thus wouldn't work any longer and stay in place, in trying to bend it back to shape it snapped, so I had to make a new arm, in this case from a hacksaw blade which was roughly the right thickness, slightly thinner but still functional, it works just fine now.

another unexpected issue was the holes in the bedplate would not line up with those in the upper works, so three of the original holes in the bedplate had to be plugged and new ones drilled and tapped to accommodate the new upper works, then, because I couldn't find any screws the right style to match, I had to make new brass screws.

Surprisingly, apart from the brake arm, the motor didn't need anything done to it, a bit of oil and it runs great, at least 2 cylinders to a wind, probably 3, I got lucky with the springs being in good order

It's a very pretty machine, one i love even just looking at, the only thing it's missing is a winding handle, if any body has a spare, please let me know

[phonogfp]

Over the years I've become a big fan of Graphophones, and I'm glad to see another budding enthusiast. Older collectors used to disparage Graphophones for all the pot metal problems (while curiously forgiving Edison all those swollen reproducers and recorders, bearings in Model D, E, and F machines, lower pulleys on Homes, upper pulleys on some Gems, etc...). Your AT represents one of the worst possible examples of pot metal nightmares, but you demonstrated that even one of these can be brought back.

Congratulations!

George P.

[kirtley2012]

Yes I like them, they are all great looking machines, and if set up correctly, great performers

I love projects like this, bringing old wrecks back to life, it certainly was a nightmare, an expensive nightmare too, but anything can be made to run again in one way or another, I think this one turned out very well given the sorry state it was in, just couldn't bring myself to let it be parted out or become a display piece were someone else to buy it, problem now is that I need another project

[tomb]

You did a good restoration. The hard work paid off and you will have a good machine for years to come Tom

[Jerry B.]

It is alive, I think the little AT is smiling.

Jerry B.

[FellowCollector]

Looking good, Alex. I've restored several Columbia AT's in my collection with original parts that I had from total junker AT's that I bought years ago just for the parts I could salvage. One that I restored was just a couple of weeks ago. The cabinet, lid, upper works and motor were beautifully preserved.

The most common problem that I have found with the several Columbia AT's I've restored in my collection over many years is not the trunnion or the carriage 'tube' but the blasted feedscrew engage/disengage lever that surrounds the carriage 'tube'.

That lever is almost 100% of the time seized up tighter than a banjo string to the carriage 'tube' on untouched AT's resulting in a totally immobile carriage.

With my most recent Columbia AT, removing the carriage 'tube' from the carriage rod was a snap. But NOW comes the tough part...getting that lever to move freely on the carriage tube. What I did was wrap a rag around one side of the tube and CAREFULLY set a huge set of vise grips I have here to JUST BARELY grip the carriage tube. And then with lots of hand work moving that lever slowly back and forth around the tube while applying oil. I'll be it took me at least 2 hours of constant working of that lever before it finally released its death grip on that carriage tube.

My next issue was that a well meaning buffoon in the past had damaged the 2 carriage tube holes on the underside of the tube that attach the spring loaded feed nut guide assembly. Thankfully on my carriage tube there were enough screw threads remaining in the holes to insert a slightly longer screw and that worked to secure the guide onto the carriage tube.

So with the carriage tube all set (lever working well, feed nut guide assembly attached) I thought I was out of the woods and reinstalled the tube onto the carriage rod and spun the gear on the end of the carriage rod to assure the carriage would move on the rod all the way to the end.

Yes! It's moving great! I installed the trunnion to the carriage tube, cranked it up, put on a lightweight horn AND.........WHAT? The carriage stops/starts then stops/starts....OHHHHH BOY.....

Took it all apart and realized the feed nut was JUST BARELY engaging with the feed screw....so I carefully s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d the tiny spring down inside the carriage guide so that it would PUSH UP the feed nut more forcefully and put it all back together.

AND??? That did it! It works great!

Anyone who has ever worked on the Columbia carriages will understand the obstacles involved with restoring them. But oh what joy they can provide when you're successful!!

Again, nicely done Alex!

- Doug

[kirtley2012]

Mine had something similar in regards to the feed nut spring, it moved, but slight resistance would cause it to skip on the feed screw, luckily I still had the spring from the original pot metal carriage which was a bit tougher and works fine


The original carriage was very stiff, down to swollen pot metal, but where it has expanded between the carriage rod and lift lever was impossibly tight, not even a hammer would move it, so I ground part of the pot metal away and shattered the rest just to get the trunnion off

The brass one fit very well straight on though

[drh]

Over the years I've become a big fan of Graphophones, and I'm glad to see another budding enthusiast. Older collectors used to disparage Graphophones for all the pot metal problems (while curiously forgiving Edison all those swollen reproducers and recorders, bearings in Model D, E, and F machines, lower pulleys on Homes, upper pulleys on some Gems, etc...). Your AT represents one of the worst possible examples of pot metal nightmares, but you demonstrated that even one of these can be brought back.

Congratulations!

George P.

Well, if you think back, back then Columbia had a real image problem. The Internet, with its wealth of discussion boards and blogs and information sites and whatnot, was years and years in the future. Most of us had two primary references about spring phonos: Read and Welch's From Tinfoil to Stereo and Roland Gelatt's The Fabulous Phonograph. Read and Welch, much the more comprehensive, had a pronounced pro-Edison bias, with Victor also viewed favorably. Gelatt had a strong pro-Victor bias, with Edison viewed favorably until Victor came along and a certain condescension thereafter. In both books, Columbia served as the obligatory villain of the piece, engaging in unethical legal and business skulduggery to make trouble for the authors' respective heroes. Only in pretty recent years has the story come out showing that everybody engaged in unethical legal and business skulduggery--it was the accepted way of doing business at the time--and Columbia in fact often was playing plucky underdog to more powerful competitors.

I assume rampant pot metal issues explain why I've seen so few Columbia machines relative to their Edison counterparts?

Note: the restoration that started this thread should be cause for real pride. That is one beautiful machine!

[phonogfp]

I assume rampant pot metal issues explain why I've seen so few Columbia machines relative to their Edison counterparts?

I fully agree with your observation that The Fabulous Phonograph and especially From Tinfoil to Stereo were responsible for much of the anti-Columbia bias.

I certainly wouldn't call Columbia's pot metal problems "rampant." You'll find absolutely no pot metal in the Type A, B ("Eagle"), or most Cs, nor in the Q. Early production ATs have no pot metal. Nor do any of the excellent B-series Graphophones (BC, BE, BF, BG, BK, and their "T" variants). Early Grafonola tone arms were aluminum, but unfortunately Columbia reverted to pot metal elbows a bit later.

Back in the 60s and 70s, the bulk of antique phonograph collectors seemed to be "home handymen" types, who really couldn't successfully tackle seized carriages/trunions. Until the mid-1980s I shied away from them for the same reason. With more serious collecting came more sophisticated restoration techniques. My shop is pretty modest, but I've repaired a bunch of swollen carriages/trunions - thanks to tips from talented restoration experts. The Columbia pot metal problems are not as serious as they once were, simply because now there are many folks who can handle them.

Just my 2 cents worth...

George P.

[Lucius1958]

The main problem I have had with the AT carriage is the screw holes stripping. I've tried some remedies, such as epoxy putty, to restore the threads, but without very much success; I finally had to rely on superglue to hold the screws in for the time being.

Bill