Need help with Columbia Grafanola....very minor repair...

[MichaelSteele]

I just received a Columbia Grafanola floor model from about 1915. With mahogany case (needs refinishing, but in good shape cabinet wise. The mechanism seems to work fine....have spare needles....records. But the "tone arm" (if that is the thing you call the arm which holds the needle) is very, very stiff and when you attempt to play a record it just sits in one spot....does not move along the groove.

I would like it should move much more freely....and think it needs lubrication only....but don't want to do anything wrong. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!

Mike Steele

[SonnyPhono]

Congratulations on the new phonograph! You tend to see that with the tonearms on a lot of Columbias as they were made of pot metal and would swell over time making the joints stiff and unable to play.

I will tell you what I did that made mine play perfect and not caused any problems at all since. But please make sure to read the advice from others before trying this as it may not be good for your phonograph at all, and their advice may be the way to go. If that's the case, we will both learn! I removed the tonearm and sprayed a touch of WD-40 around the joints on the outside, and just a bit on the inside as well. Then, very carefully, pivot the arm in your hands slowly back and forth. When I did this, it brought back full mobility and after wiping it off with a clean rag, has not had any problems since.

Hope this helps, but make sure to read the other advice before trying this as we may learn this is not good for it!

[Neophone]

Gents,

Be careful with the WD-40 If I recall correctly it does not interact well with potmetal. I have a late model Victor portable with a potmetal tone arm that was frozen. I carefully worked the pieces apart and then sanded the both the outside of the "male" fitting and the inside of the "female" fitting. It worked very well. I'll double check on the potmetal/WD-40 interaction tomorrow.

Welcome Aboard Michael.

Regards,
John

[B.B.B]

STEP AWAY FOR THE WD40, SIR!! DROP IT!

Well, WD40 pits metal over a prolonged period, & since pot-metal is softer & has big pores, it would probably be even worse.
I would avoid it. Place the parts/spray it with in naphta or gasoline instead for a couple of hours.
Avoid spilling on the wood.
Once taken apart remove rust/grit with fine steelwool.
Oil carefully with a high quality mineral oil, such as sewingmachine-oil.

If you feel that you must use WD40, clean it of with a rag dipped in naptha/gasoline after the work is done.

If it comes apart fairly easy, then follow Neos advice, & you should be safe, but please remember, pot-metal is very brittle & doesn't react like other metals do.
If it is frozen, you should be very careful. I learned this the hard way, with a Columbia portable tone arm...

addendendum:
Please excuse my impoliteness; Welcome to the Board! Always nice to see a new face

[SonnyPhono]

Whoops!

Thanks for the information. I will be removing the tonearm once again to take the steps you said. I didn't know that WD-40 would have that effect on metal. Sure glad I added the whole, "make sure to wait on the other posts before trying my method" part.

[Covah]

WD-40 is good for nothing but perfuming the machine after soaking in pungent solvent.

Put the stuck elbow in the freezer. Then it should come out of base.

File the sides of the elbow extension. Replace and rotate elbow. Remove and file scuffed spots. Repeat until elbow rotates smoothly.

Columbia phonographs are excellent but for this stupid potmetal elbow.