The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello all:
I'm looking for the best way to loosen a somewhat tight wooden knob on my Vic II winding crank. Graphite powder is messy and I don't know if using oil would be a good thing. The knob can't be removed as it's held in place by a rivet. Suggestions? Thanks!
Bob

I know there are graphited fluids available as lock lubricants...

Have you tried silicone, or such penetrating oils as Liquid Wrench®, Kroil®, or PB Blaster®?

Bill

Lucius1958 wrote:I know there are graphited fluids available as lock lubricants...

Have you tried silicone, or such penetrating oils as Liquid Wrench®, Kroil®, or PB Blaster®?

Bill

I haven't tried these yet-I just wonder if any liquids would affect the wood knob in the long term. Thanks for the suggestion!
Bob

I would also be afraid that the wood may swell with fluids, and make the problem worse.

Personally I would go with graphite powder.

Marco Gilardetti wrote:I would also be afraid that the wood may swell with fluids, and make the problem worse.

Personally I would go with graphite powder.

Thanks for your suggestion! I went and applied some graphite powder, getting a lot more on myself and surroundings than the knob!
It seems to help a bit, though it's still snug. Maybe some time in a controlled-humidity room will eventually help too!
Bob

I wonder if something like PB Blaster would help? I think that sometimes the crank shaft rusts, and that's why the handles bind. I'd try to see if I could somehow remove the rust by slowly flushing some of it out. Just my $.02, and as always: YMMV...

Best,
Fran

Thanks, Fran, for the suggestion!
I'll see how the graphite powder works first. Just using the machine should surely loosen the knob over time too!
Bob

Avoid silicone - it creeps, and could cause problems for you or someone down the road. (Thinking of finish-issues).

How about making a thin slurry of graphite & a quickly evaporating solvents, such as lacquer-thinner, as a vehicle, that can carry the graphite into the tight spaces, then will flash-off, leaving the graphite solids behind where they can do some good ?

Putting the crank / knob in a dehydrating environment for a bit prior to this may help open the clearance between the crank and the knob ?


In the past, I have oiled them... not sure it was a great idea...


Hopefully the crank has not rusted and gotten rough inside the wooden knob...

"Hopefully the crank has not rusted and gotten rough inside the wooden knob... is it "squeaky-tight" or "crunchy-tight" ?"

No, it's just slightly snug. Your suggestion involving lacquer thinner is an interesting one...
Thanks!
Bob

If it was mine, I'd mix up a quick batch
of sewing machine oil and graphite. Get plenty
of it in there and wipe off the excess.
Then take the crank off, hold the wood handle
in your hand and spin it for a long time to
loosen everything up and distribute the oil/graphite
in there where it needs to be.

That should be sufficient.