Is this a genuine Pathefone, and is it a "Buy Now" ?

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tomb
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Re: Is this a genuine Pathefone, and is it a "Buy Now" ?

Post by tomb »

Nice buy enjoy the restoration. Tom

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nostalgia
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Re: Is this a genuine Pathefone, and is it a "Buy Now" ?

Post by nostalgia »

Than you Phono48. Since I have not yet disassembled a motor, I did not pay notice to yesterday that the governor spring and weights was not in place. (I understand only during the last few weeks that these components regulate the speed.) And here comes the motor repair newbie question: Is it possible to remake these components, or is it maybe possible to substitute thesee components from another motor of an approximate similar size?
Thank you also, Tom, for your comment.

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Re: Is this a genuine Pathefone, and is it a "Buy Now" ?

Post by epigramophone »

New governor springs and weights are available from gramophone component suppliers, some of whom advertise on eBay, but you will need to determine what size and type you need. The most important thing is to ensure that you have a matching set, otherwise the governor will be out of balance and will not run evenly.

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nostalgia
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Re: Is this a genuine Pathefone, and is it a "Buy Now" ?

Post by nostalgia »

Thank you for advice, epigramophone. Something tells me it will be wise to find someone to help me with the governor spring.
I have contacted an old man who repair old gramophones, hopefully he will be able to be of help. If he can help, I will watch closely
what he is doing, so I in the future can do the work myself. I will also ask him to check the main spring.
I have dissasembled the gramophone completely, and will start repairing the wooden box, I can post some photos later on about this process,
so forum members who never have repaired a gramophone, hopefully can get some courage and find some faith to start a small gramophone repair. If a newbie like me can do something good (hopefully) for a gramophone, well..then everyone with interest can do it, since I have absolutely no background in any sort of craft or workmanship, and neither is a techy guy.

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nostalgia
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Re: Is this a genuine Pathefone, and is it a "Buy Now" ?

Post by nostalgia »

Finally the horn has arrived, myself I don't think this is a horn from the 1950's, it looks too old for that as I see it, but who am I to know, really...I was disappointed to see that there is a 10-15 cm crack in the horn veneer, the seller had not told that in advance, and I did not recognize it on the photos mailed me when I was bidding on the gramophone. The lid area on top also was somewhat broken on the wood case itself, but I have been able to glue this carefully together. Knowing already the governor spring is missing, and also the main spring probably not installed, I don't see this as a particular good buy, but still, I want to try to amend the problems as good as I can, seeing the horn crack as the baddest problem, that I can't see how to amend, and will probably need leave to stay as it is.
When the horn arrived, there were 4 Pathé very old records along also in this container, that were not broken, they had luckily survived the shipping, inside the hugest cardboard container I have ever received in the post! I could hardly get it into my old Toyota Rav 4 car!
Taking into consideration 4 old Pathé recordings came with it, and that the Pathé reproducer is intact and is also not rusty, I guess I can not say it is a severe loss of funds, and the gramophone also is unique and rare in itself.
The photos are showing the crack in the horn from both the inside and outside of the horn.
Attachments
horn6.JPG
The horn container.JPG
horn4.JPG
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horn1.JPG
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tomb
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Re: Is this a genuine Pathefone, and is it a "Buy Now" ?

Post by tomb »

Check with a local furniture restorer or possible a older cabinet maker, He may be able to repair the horn with out to much showing. All the wood is there and it should not be a complicated fix but I would leave it up to someone with experience repairing furniture. That is what I would do as the horn is the show piece of the phonograph. It should not be too costly of a repair and you will be glad that you had it done. Tom

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nostalgia
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Re: Is this a genuine Pathefone, and is it a "Buy Now" ?

Post by nostalgia »

Tom: Thank you for your advice and positive suggestions. I could not find any cabinetmakers, but one of my neighbours is an experiended furniture carpenter, and he will give me advice on how to secure and "repair" the veneer. He said the crack would always be visible, but with skilled gluing, it should not look too bad. I will post a photo when I have finished repairing the gramophone, the missing governor spring will be the challenge, but I am also trying to find someone who can help me with that, picking a suitable spring etc.

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Re: Is this a genuine Pathefone, and is it a "Buy Now" ?

Post by Phono48 »

nostalgia wrote:I will post a photo when I have finished repairing the gramophone, the missing governor spring will be the challenge, but I am also trying to find someone who can help me with that, picking a suitable spring etc.
There is not only one governor spring, there are three, one for each weight. They are not springs in the conventional sense, they are flat flexible strips of tensile steel, with a central hole to attach the weight, and a hole at each end to attach the springs to the governor disc and the corresponding small disc. In addition, you will need three weights of suitable size, with screws and six tiny screws with the correct thread to attach the springs.

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nostalgia
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Re: Is this a genuine Pathefone, and is it a "Buy Now" ?

Post by nostalgia »

Yes, thank you Phono48. I realize now there are several components to build together here to get this motor up and working. I yesterday for the first time disassempled a gramophone motor, a HMV59, and quickly understood it had some missing components too, but it is great learning, and the only way to see and absorb how these motors are working. I will today, if I am brave enough, for the first time open a spring box of a HMV motor and service it. Yes, I know it can be dangerous, and will take precautions, and I also found the wonderful videos of Graham Barber on youtube, who is explaining in details how to get this work done, along with servicing a HMV motor. I realized with sadness a few days ago he actually died last year. His websites was actually what made me decide to take our hobby (devotion) to a new level after 30 years in hibernation, since I always found his websites very positive, informative and encouraging, and in general a wonderful guide for everyone interested in collecting/restoring and caring for old gramophones.
I started to work on the wooden horn for the gramophone in this thread yesterday, and have ordered carefully selected glue online for this job as a first step in the restoration of the horn. The components and building of the governor spring and associated components may take longer time, since I don't feel able to do this work myself, at least not at the time of writing this...

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Re: Is this a genuine Pathefone, and is it a "Buy Now" ?

Post by Marco Gilardetti »

nostalgia wrote:Graham Barber [...] I realized with sadness a few days ago he actually died last year.
I fully agree that he will never be mourned enough. Despite being relatively new to this hobby, he was extremely cooperative and informative, and he also put up that nice and clear website that inspired many people, myself included.

Coming to your gramophone, the motor is missing so many specific and hard to find parts that in my opinion you'll have better luck tracking a complete working motor as a replacement, and keep or resell your current unit for parts.

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