grafonola mainsprings

[deadtree1]

i'm sorry i misled some of you. what i mean is if there is a spring winder that will remove the spring from the barrel(s) then install a new spring back into the barrel?

[VintageTechnologies]

Just to be clear what you are asking for, do you mean a crank? If so, then yes, but there were different styles of Columbia cranks. You should post the model number of your machine, and/or a photo to help collectors identify exactly what type of crank that you need.

[phonojim]

There are such tools for clocks and they are wonderful to have available. They might be adaptable to small springs such as used in a Columbia Q for example. If you have access to suitable machine tools you could make one based on the clock spring winder model, but there are none commercially available that I know of. There are a lot more clock repairmen than phono repairmen in the word apparently.

Jim

[deadtree1]

thanks for the info guys.

[VintageTechnologies]

Since the title of this thread refers to "grafonola", I assume the machine in question is a disk machine with springs larger than those used for clocks. I don't know of anyone that has such a winder. Such a thing would be nice indeed. However, there are numerous threads in this forum that discuss various methods to manually uncoil springs from a barrel and then install new ones. There are also video demonstrations on YouTube. The final alternative is pay a specialist phono repairman to do it for you.

[phonojim]

At one time when I was doing a lot of spring work I thought of designing one and having it built, but it wouldn't be worth the cost any more. The beauty of having a spring winder is that it cuts way down on the time and effort necessary to remove and replace springs (in clocks as already mentioned but the same would apply to phonographs). It also adds a huge safety factor because it is easy to keep the spring under control at all times.

Jim