Repro aluminum horn

[TinfoilPhono]

The other day I accidentally bumped into one of my original 14" Columbia aluminum horns and inevitably damaged it. #$%^&*()!!!!!

Fortunately I was able to bend it back into shape reasonably well, but I decided that display is simply too precarious to risk seriously damaging such a scarce and fragile aluminum horn, especially one in such unusually nice original condition. Someone will bump into it again. So I decided to buy one of the repros that Curt A. mentioned in this post to use on that machine, figuring that if it gets dented, it's not a big loss.

I received it yesterday. I must say it really does look beautiful. It's also very interestingly constructed -- spun from one piece of aluminum. There's no body seam, and even the bell is part of the body. What appears to be a crimp to mount the bell as seen on originals is simply pressed into the aluminum. It has a flawless and very bright exterior polish, which I don't usually see on spun repro aluminum Pathé-style horns.

It differs from original in another way -- it's very heavy. My originals weigh 2.6 oz. and 2.65 oz. respectively. This repro weighs 8.92 oz. That might be problematic if it's used on machines with pot metal trunnions, but it is perfect for my need since it would be very hard to dent it, unlike the very thin and fragile originals.

[Curt A]

Glad you got one and like it... I bought two, since I was concerned about the possible damage to fragile original aluminum horns, and for the price it seems like a good alternative. So far, I am extremely happy with mine, even though I noticed the weight difference in the new ones.

For my purposes, it works perfectly and now I don't have to be concerned about immediately locating an original brass horn for my coin-op AS. If I ever locate an original horn, I will probably display this machine with the repro horn, since it is in the kitchen on a cylinder cabinet and prone to possible bumping.

[Raphael]

I love those repro aluminum horns, but Rene is right, they are too heavy for some uses, such as with a repeater.

Raphael