Columbia 112a specific repairs

[anchorman]

I’ve decided that I don’t have enough projects going at the moment, so I thought it’s time to tear down and clean the motor on my Columbia 112a.

The rubber and fibre board spacers between the motor board and the number 50 motor have gone bad. 2 are soft and deformed, one is hard as a rock. Does anyone know what specific thickness these should be in order for the crank to fit through the case properly? If there is no information out there, I’ll start by trying to match the hard one for thickness, and see where that gets me. I’m also wondering if there’s a specific preferred material for replacing the rubber? I have sheets of Buna-N rubbber that I can cut, along with rubber/cork gasket material, and possibly silicone rubber sheet. Is there an ideal hardness/softness to the rubber?

[Phono48]

I've always used tap washers from any DIY store. If one isn't enough, add another, and if that makes the whole thing too thick, then they are easily rubbed across a sheet of sandpaper to thin them down.

Barry

[anchorman]

I've always used tap washers from any DIY store. If one isn't enough, add another, and if that makes the whole thing too thick, then they are easily rubbed across a sheet of sandpaper to thin them down.

Barry

Those are about the right size, I guess.

[nostalgia]

Do you know what I am using for this purpose? Old car mats ..
I was out in the forest nearby some days ago, finding a deserted old van.. and picked a car mat. It will last the rest of my life, and cutting the proper sized rings are pretty easy. And all free ! Finding the correct thickness is pretty easy if gazing through the winding hole with a torch light, when the winding handle axis is in center, one is spot on. I repaired an old horn gramophone some days ago, it felt correct to use old car mat material for the job, that is what I call recycling.

[Orchorsol]

Do you know what I am using for this purpose? Old car mats ..
I was out in the forest nearby some days ago, finding a deserted old van.. and picked a car mat. It will last the rest of my life, and cutting the proper sized rings are pretty easy. And all free ! Finding the correct thickness is pretty easy if gazing through the winding hole with a torch light, when the winding handle axis is in center, one is spot on. I repaired an old horn gramophone some days ago, it felt correct to use old car mat material for the job, that is what I call recycling.

Appreciation from me for the sustainability angle, nostalgia!

[anchorman]

I got the motor cleaned and re-greased the spring. Looked very nice in there, but the grease didn’t look so hot, almost like it was separating, but it was not leaving much gunk behind. Perhaps they went light on the graphite? It was easier to clean at least! I replaced the old grease with the Vaseline and graphite mix using a zip-loc sandwich bag with the corner cut off like a piping bag to squeeze the new grease into the loose center of the spring. I am a devotee of the Wyatt Markus school of gramophone repairs, and have had very good luck so far with this method.

Governor removed, cleaned, and re-installed/readjusted. I used a nice automotive grease from Valvonline with moly additive for the gear teeth. Mobil 1 0w20 for the pivots. I now get over two 10” sides per winding, and better speed regulation/more power.

I ended up finding in my plumbing box some rubber washers that are for connecting a toilet tank to the base/bowl. They worked perfectly, even through the center hole is a bit bigger than it ought to be. everything re-aligned as it should.

Next up is the case, which needs some fresh felt under the horn in a coupe of spots. I couldn’t resist and carefully took the horn apart, simply because I wanted to see what it looked like in there. If that casting for the tone arm side of the horn is pot metal, they did a nice job. It looks great with no damage. I’ll post some pictures for posterity tomorrow. Last thing tonight is gluing down a bit of the rexine cloth cover where it is coming loose. Tomorrow I repair a couple of loose and also a couple of slightly miss-aligned screw holes, then after way too long it gets the replacement hinge that finally arrived last week after a year in limbo, and everything put back together.

[nostalgia]

Good work there:) Thanks for sharing your detailed work, it will be of help to others, and is also why I always try to share my procedures when making repairs. Good to know I am also not the only one working on Columbia gramophones during the summer.

[anchorman]

Some pictures of the internal horn section:

I’m curious if there is supposed to be a part of some sort on the shaft that holds the lifting bracket, or if it is just threaded on part way so it will clear any obstacles as it lifts the horn.

[Phono48]

That looks as it should.

Barry

[anchorman]

When I took the horn apart I noticed that the fixed support had come loose, so I used a piece of wood and a clamp to hold it in place, and some MG120 silver bearing solder to repair the cracked area. It got a little messy, since my iron would produce quite enough heat for the job, but hopefully it holds. This solder and the flux that comes with it do a phenomenal job on old metal like this. My usual go to is plumbers solder, but it doesn’t flow do well in zinc and steel. This silver solder works like a dream, though.

The pivot has a flange inside, and is pushed in place by the removable pivot on the other side, so there ought not to be any stress in it to cause failure again. This machine was beat up pretty badly when it was shipped to me, And this is likely a casualty of the shipping incident. Fortunately no damage to the cast section of the horn.