Columbia portables..the endless enigma?

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Phono48
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Re: Columbia portables..the endless enigma?

Post by Phono48 »

Congratulations on acquiring two great machines! One thing has always puzzled me about the 206. Why did they put that upside-down winding escutcheon in the lid? Surely you wouldn't want to wind the motor whilst the lid was closed, or carry the machine with the handle sticking out?. Maybe they just had hundreds of the escutcheons left over from the HMV 102s and this was a good way of using them up?

Barry

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Re: Columbia portables..the endless enigma?

Post by nostalgia »

Thank you Barry, I enjoy much to acquire these Columbia portables, and by sharing as many photos as possible, I hope also to inspire more persons to start collecting these beautiful machines. I am quite astounded by the quality of these machines actually, and about every detail put into the manufacture, to make it a solid and lasting gramophone. I have no idea about the idea behind lid escutcheon though. The only thing I can think of, is that it maybe can be easier to wind the machine with lid closed if you are out in nature, and the ground under the machine is not too even. Then one can close the lid, and wind the machine while using the other hand to hold the machine down in its best winding up position?
I have a question Barry, could you tell me what kind/size of hypodermic needle you use for filling the bubbles in the case with glue? Such needles are pretty hard to get in my area, and it would be nice to avoid buying a needle that appears to be too small/big and don't work for this job. I guess the outer size of these needles are measured in gauge?

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Re: Columbia portables..the endless enigma?

Post by Phono48 »

The needles I use have printed on the packaging 19g x 2". So I guess 19 is the gauge? Sorry I cant be more specific, but I've had them for about thirty years, and can't remember where I got them from. When you do this job, you'll find that PVA is too thick to draw up into the syringe, so it has to be thinned with quite a lot of water, and even then it is only possible to fill the syringe with about an inch of the mixture. Don't be alarmed if when you squirt the adhesive into the bubble, the pressure lifts a bigger area of covering, it will all go flat again when you force the surplus out through the hole made by the needle. By the way, is the needle pot you need for the 202 the same as the one on the 206? It looks to be the same, and is obviously original, but I've never seen that version on a 202a or b, only the one with the swivelling dome.The later "c" does have the same on as the 206.

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Re: Columbia portables..the endless enigma?

Post by nostalgia »

Thank you once more, Barry. The 19 g must be the gauge, and since you have used this gauge for your Columbia portables case work, I will buy the same gauge for a hypodermic needle. I think it could be easy to buy a too small needle if not knowing the approximate gauge, causing the glue to not pass through the needle. I appreciate much how you told in detail how you do this work too, it is diminishing the risk of failing when I start testing out this work. I for sure have quite a few Columbia ( and some HMV's that need this kind of work done now). Using a syringe will also make it easier to fasten covering around the corners of a portable.
Yes, the needle pot on the 202 is exactly similar to the needle pot on the 206. I don't know if it may have been changed at some stage? Inside the needle pot of the lid broken needle pot I found another pot ( making it 2 pots in total), I attach a photo of it. Since I not yet have seen a swivelling dome pot in detail, I am myself not able to decide if this is a remaining part of this kind of needle pot.
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Columbia 202 (5).jpg

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Re: Columbia portables..the endless enigma?

Post by epigramophone »

The lower pot is for used needles, which you drop down the hole in the upper one. Another example of Columbia's attention to detail.

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Re: Columbia portables..the endless enigma?

Post by nostalgia »

Thank you, Roger, and definitely another attention to detail from the Columbia manufacture.

Phono48
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Re: Columbia portables..the endless enigma?

Post by Phono48 »

nostalgia wrote:Since I not yet have seen a swivelling dome pot in detail, I am myself not able to decide if this is a remaining part of this kind of needle pot.
This is the "swivelling dome" needle pot that was usually fitted to the 202 (and the 201) It has no removable inner dish like that on the 206.

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Re: Columbia portables..the endless enigma?

Post by Gramophile »

More Columbiana.
I spotted this picture (from another Fabrizio & Paul book) of an advert for Columbia portables.
(Model) Number, please!
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Columbia portable - lantern-slide. .jpg

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Re: Columbia portables..the endless enigma?

Post by epigramophone »

It looks like the No.111a-N, Brown Cowhide with Nickel-Plated Fittings, catalogued at £7.10s in 1929. The No.112a in Crocodile Cloth cost £5.10s.
I don't know where the "Senior" and "Junior" names in the advert pictured originated. In the 1929 catalogue, Columbia lists the No.109a at £3.10s as the Junior Portable and the black No.112a at £4.15s as the Standard Portable. No mention of a Senior Portable, not even the mighty No.113a which is listed as the Viva-Tonal model.
Perhaps the lantern slide was designed, presumably for cinema use, by the local Columbia dealer rather than Columbia themselves.

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Re: Columbia portables..the endless enigma?

Post by nostalgia »

I am reopening this thread, instead of opening a new thread with another enigmatic Columbia portable. I have just one photo of this portable, a Columbia 216 as far as I can read it from the photo. It is in terrible condition, and I am not thinking of buying it, even if I may change my mind on that (maybe), if I realize I should do so. BUT, what kind of Columbia portable is this?

It is for sure not any of the UK/USA made Columbia portables, and it is also not a Japan made Columbia as far as I can see it, since the speed control and manual brake are not what we recognize from (Nippon) Columbia, and also the tonearm have nothing in common with the Japan made portables numbered 213 and 214, which can be seen here in our Japan/Nippon Columbia thread: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=44519&start=10

Is it possibly another Pathé licenced Columbia, now also with a unique model number, as well as using the "Viva Tonal Grafonola" decal, or...?
Attachments
Columbia 216.jpg

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