Shipping an Edison Phonograph with Horn?

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GoCOOGS!
Victor I
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Shipping an Edison Phonograph with Horn?

Post by GoCOOGS! »

Howdy y’all!

I need to ship my Edison Home Model A and I was wondering if y’all could give me any pointers? The Cygnet 11 horn is rather large so it would have to be shipped separately. Any advice is appreciated! I’d be using UPS.

Jerry B.
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Re: Shipping an Edison Phonograph with Horn?

Post by Jerry B. »

If it's going to a collector that's attending Union or APS I can give it a much better ride than USPS, Fedex, or UPS.

To answer your question about packing:

The Cygnet bell must be bubble wrapped and go in a carton 2" wider than the bell in every direction. The Cygnet elbow could be bubble wrapped and into the bell. I'd bubble wrap the mechanism, probably minus the carriage and reproducer, and place in in the second carton with gobs of packing. I'd place the wrapped reproducer, wrapped carriage and wrapped crank inside the cabinet and fill the balance of the cabinet including lid with wrapping. You want no voids inside the cabinet. I'd place the cabinet inside a plastic garbage bag and tape with packing tape. Then I'd wrap both direction with bubble wrap, lots of it. Finally I'd place this in a big carton at least 2" in each direction of the cabinet. The crane bits could go inside the cabinet also. With a little wrapping of the large crane parts I'd place them in the cabinet carton.

It takes time and a fair expense to do a good job packing for commercial delivery.

Jerry Blais

melvind
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Re: Shipping an Edison Phonograph with Horn?

Post by melvind »

You might consider not using UPS. They have quite a bad track record for breaking phonographs (and other things) and then blaming the damage on the packing and deny insurance claims. USPS is much gentler and kinder to packages and always honor their insurance agreements. At least in my experience.

52089
Victor VI
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Re: Shipping an Edison Phonograph with Horn?

Post by 52089 »

melvind wrote:You might consider not using UPS. They have quite a bad track record for breaking phonographs (and other things) and then blaming the damage on the packing and deny insurance claims. USPS is much gentler and kinder to packages and always honor their insurance agreements. At least in my experience.
I'll be much more explicit - DO NOT USE UPS OR FEDEX TO SHIP A PHONOGRAPH. Both UPS and FedEx use conveyors to move packages within their facilities. Packages are allowed to drop from conveyor to conveyor, sometimes several feet. USPS is less automated and still sorts and moves much of their packages by hand.

I also second the comments about insurance processing. USPS is great. The others are extremely painful to deal with.

Your best bet is indeed the "Jerry Blais Express" or its equivalent. Far better to have one of us - who know what to do and who actually care - handle this than some random stranger. Find way to get your boxes to one of the major phonograph shows and then relax.

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Phono-Phan
Victor V
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Re: Shipping an Edison Phonograph with Horn?

Post by Phono-Phan »

It may help to give the location where your shipping it from and where it is being sent. I just used Speedee Delivery Service to ship a rear mount Victor MS to Iowa. It was in two large boxes and was shipped overnight for $20 :D . The only drawback is they only service a few Midwest states.

Phonofreak
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Re: Shipping an Edison Phonograph with Horn?

Post by Phonofreak »

I agree with the others, that the post office is the best. The packages are handled with care, and have excellent tracking and ins. FEDEX is OK, but have signature required. The package is handled better. If you want to mail this, here are step by step instructions on what I have done. It will take 3 boxes, which might be overkill, but worth it. Below are my steps.

Packing the case and small parts.

1. Remove mechanism and bedplate from the case.
2. Remove the small parts like crank, screws, carriage, reproducer/s bracket, etc. Place the screws in a baggie.
3. Wrap the carriage, reproducer/s, bracket, crank, and bracket individually. in bubble wrap.
4. Place these items in the cavity of the case and lid. Fill the voids with bubble wrap. Make sure there is no rattle.
5. Wrap the case and contents tightly with bubble wrap.
6. Find two boxes to hold case, contents, and a larger box for double boxing.
7. Place the case and contents into the first box, and fill voids with bubble wrap.
8. Place the smaller box into the larger box, fill voids like before and seal. This part is done.

Packing the mechanism and bedplate.

9. Make sure the spring is wound down. Wrap the mechanism in a plastic bag so the grease doesn't get all over the place.
10. Wrap mechanism/bedplate with bubble wrap. Like before, find two boxes so the mechanism/bedplate can be double boxed.
11. Do as before of filling the voids with bubble wrap and seal.
Box No. 2 is done.

Packing the horn and crane.

12. Wrap the crane in a plastic bag. Same with the elbow, and horn.
13. See how much you can fit the elbow and crane into the horn. I know it won't fit completely inside, but the purpose is to have a unit as compact as possible.
14. Once you make that determination, wrap these in bubble wrap and place in horn cavity.
15. Wrap the whole unit in bubble wrap. Double box as discussed before.

Yes. it is overkill and can be time consuming, but the main goal is to have a machines packed bullet-proof and arrive safely in one piece.

Now ready for shipment.

If anyone else has any input, let us know.
Harvey Kravitz

Jerry B.
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Re: Shipping an Edison Phonograph with Horn?

Post by Jerry B. »

Packing a phonograph or a complete outfit like yours take a great deal of time and a fair expense. I've always felt the responsibility to take care of this stuff and always do my best. It is not the time for a buyer to hope for the best or the shipper to do a quick job. Thanks for asking opinions on good packing. I always ask a buyer for specific instructions. He may have other ideas other than Harvey's or mine.

Jerry Blais

Jerry B.
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Re: Shipping an Edison Phonograph with Horn?

Post by Jerry B. »

PM (message sent) Jerry

HisMastersVoice
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Re: Shipping an Edison Phonograph with Horn?

Post by HisMastersVoice »

melvind wrote:USPS is much gentler and kinder to packages and always honor their insurance agreements. At least in my experience.
Not mine...I will never use USPS to ship something worth more than $100 after having dealt with multiple damages and losses over the last year. In fact, they just lost a rather large & valuable package I was shipping with no explanation. It has been under investigation for weeks now and I'm out the money and the item until further notice. I suspect someone who works at one of the sorting facilities has a nice set of Le Creuset cookware at home now, since it would be fairly unlikely for a huge box full of cast iron to slip between a conveyor belt or something.
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victorthesixth
Victor I
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Re: Shipping an Edison Phonograph with Horn?

Post by victorthesixth »

So we can't trust USPS, UPS or Fedex. Now what?

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