The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I recently was asked to work on a Ratchet wind Berliner. It was previously sent to someone(name not important) to install a new gear. It was returned with a new gear installed but wouldn't run with the cover put back on. It was suggested that the cover be shimmed up with some washers. This left a very noticeable gap between the cover and the base board. When you subtract the measurement from the base board to the top of the gear from the measurement from the case bottom to the inside of the cover where the rivets would be at, there is only about 3/64" maximum clearance. The heads of the copper rivets were almost 7/64". I was able to make a brass piece with the thickness needed for the rivet heads. I then drilled a hole to let the head of the rivet head go through it. I was able to carefully sand away the head of the rivet down to a more acceptable thickness without risking damage to the gear. I needed a few more thousands of an inch to get a little more clearance. I contacted the owner and asked permission to sand the bottom of the motor casting where the mounting screws go through. There are raised circles around the holes. He agreed and I carefully sanded away a little more to gain the proper clearance. The motor runs very smooth now with the cover on and doesn't require the cover to be shimmed off of the base board with a very noticeable gap. This was a great and rewarding challenge.

Thanks for posting and sharing. It take a great deal of patience to make these machines to look and work right. Thanks for posting the picture. I always wanted to see what the motor looks like.
Harvey Kravitz

Amazing machine and great detail work. Congratulations. I can imagine how it must feel to work on one of these early marvels.

Thanks for sharing.

Andreas

This may have looked like a simple quick repair. But it took a few hours. Several repeats of sanding, re-assemble cover, test, repeat. I wanted to remove the minimum rivet head material and motor casting base to achieve a free running motor.