Lubricating a Edison Standard

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hearsedriver
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Re: Lubricating a Edison Standard

Post by hearsedriver »

I could really use some advice here. I have cleaned and lubricated everything, including the mainspring, and the unit is running good and quiet but as soon as I drop the carriage on to the cylinder, it bogs down. If I gently lift a little on the carriage, it plays great. Here is a picture of my half nut bar. There is not an adjustment screw like on the later model B's. Should I attempt to bend the spring bar or shim it or?? Am I barking up the wrong tree? Im kind of stuck at the moment.
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12jslater
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Re: Lubricating a Edison Standard

Post by 12jslater »

on the picture bottom two screws for adjustment and top two to hold it in place.

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hearsedriver
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Re: Lubricating a Edison Standard

Post by hearsedriver »

Those screws only adjust the position of the half nut on the flat bar for correct mesh with the feed screw. I need to adjust the pressure that the half nut puts on the feed screw.

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12jslater
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Re: Lubricating a Edison Standard

Post by 12jslater »

slack the screws off to a point where they are only around half screwed in lower the carriage as if you were playing a cylinder and lightly press the half nut against the feed screw just enough to engage it on the thread and then tighten off the screws.

Depending this may not do the job so at a last resort it has been known to heat the small metal mounting pate for the half nut and ben that away from the feed screw but always try the first method.

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hearsedriver
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Re: Lubricating a Edison Standard

Post by hearsedriver »

Thanks. I'll give it a try.

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hearsedriver
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Re: Lubricating a Edison Standard

Post by hearsedriver »

Ive had some success. I ended up cutting a shim out of a business card adn putting it between the half nut bar and the carriage and was able to play 2 cylinders on one wind with no dragging. I guess that that flat bar is made of spring steel and must be getting tired.

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Chuck
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Re: Lubricating a Edison Standard

Post by Chuck »

Another way to make a small minor adjustment
to the halfnut on those machines is to use
one screw as a pivot, and slide in a small shim
of thin cardboard or folded paper under the bar
near the outside screw.

That way, the bar can be very slightly tipped in the
direction so that the halfnut rides against the feedscrew
with just slightly less tension.

The big hint about how this is supposed to work
is when other machines are examined. For instance,
my Dictaphone Model 7 shaver has its halfnut mounted on
a nice thin, very springy piece of steel. That way,
even with it adjusted so that the halfnut contacts the
feedscrew very early as the carriage is being let down,
the remaining distance is taken up by the gentle
pressure of that flat spring on which the halfnut is
mounted.

The Edison Standard machines have almost no springyness
to their halfnut mounting bars! That bar is so thick
and beefy, I just fail to understand what they were
thinking when they made it that way! It's basically
locked solid, no adjustment, bad design.

So tip it and shim it.
"Sustained success depends on searching
for, and gaining, fundamental understanding"

-Bell System Credo

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hearsedriver
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Re: Lubricating a Edison Standard

Post by hearsedriver »

Thanks Chuck. I tried to get smart last night and put a slight bend in the bar and it broke. Now, Ive got to find one. Always something!

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