Has anyone made a machine of any type from scratch?

[phonosandradios]

One of the best known scratch built machines in the UK was made by the late George Overstall, a skilled engineer who knew the staff at EMG.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14522&hilit=Overstall

It's latest caring custodian is forum member Old Country Chemist, who lives about ten miles from me, so I see and hear it regularly.

If we ever get to travel again, I would love to see Alastair's collection. I love your section of England, it's like traveling back in time, especially around Bodmin moor and Tintagel...

There are some real (hidden) gems out there. for sure. I came across this one a few weeks ago in a hamlet at the end of a single track lane on the way to nowhere. You would never see it unless you actually were specifically going there. Luckily with my job I get to see some of them. This one really was special and it dates from the early 17th century so really old too.

[Curt A]

That is a really cool place to discover. My wife has always been a fan of Daphne du Maurier's books, so when we visited England several years ago, we definitely had to see Cornwall. What a great region of your country... I'm sure there are many other very interesting locations, also. We loved that we didn't run into hoards of tourists and enjoyed the charming and beautiful scenery...

Because of Daphne, we had to visit Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor, which brought her books to life. We have watched various versions of the movie adaptation, but one I like very much is Alfred Hitchcock's 1939 version of Jamaica Inn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx_1kYfIupU

[Inigo]

EDIT
I visited England for the first time last year, when attended the Malvern CLPGS centenary. A marvelous place. I felll in love with that country! I really found myself at home!
Indeed I've always loved England, me, an asiduous reader and re-reader of Wodehouse since I was 15... The visit was a long caressed desire. Malvern is not far from the land where PGW created Blandings castle, Market Snodsbury, and imagined all those places and manor houses... I know perfectly that my vision of England is childishly romantic... but this made me enjoy every minute of my short stay there. This, and the marvelous gramophonic colleagues I knew there... Ho, ho!!
Being so near, I've had no occasion to go there until I was 55!

[poodling around]

I visited England for the first time last year, when attended the Malvern CLPGS centenary. A marvelous place. I felll in love with that country! I really found myself at home!
Indeed I've always loved England, me, an asiduous reader and re-reader of Wodehouse since I was 15... The visit was a long caressed desire. Malvern is not far from the land where PGW created Bandings castle, Market Snodsbury, and imagined all those places and manor houses... I know perfectly that my vision of England it's childishly romantic... but this made me enjoy every minute of my dirty stay there. This, and the marvelous gramophonic colleagues I knew there... Ho, hooo!!
Bring so near, I've had no occasion to go there until I was 55!

What a lovely thing to say and such a lovely way of saying it.

We have driven through Spain to Alicante on many occasions - and I wish I could as eloquently describe the experience as you do. These are magical memories for us.

Thank you.

[Curt A]

Back to the original post: I finally got the reproducer finished and mounted to the violin. I took it for a test drive and it works fine, just a little on the heavy side, but I can adjust the screw that tilts the violin and lock it in place to reduce the drag on the record, so it's a success. Now all I need to do is grease and oil the motor to improve performance and put several coats of shellac on the case to finish it... I'll post pics when it's done.

[AmberolaAndy]

Onee of my first machines in 2009 was made with an old orange crate and Mandell parts. (at the time I thought it was a legit machine. Shows you how much I knew then.) I parted it out last year. The homemade horn wasn’t large enough anyway. I’ll try and find a picture of it.

All homemade phonographs are neat--please put a picture up if you get a chance!

Mandel phonographs can be very nice when they turn up, but the parts aren't super easy to find. I bet whoever got the parts was happy to find them.

I still have the parts. The turntable, crank, motor, and tonearm/reproducer.

Is it hard to rebuild the reproducers rebuilt on these? The pot metal is still very good on it.

[Curt A]

If the pot metal is good, with no obvious cracks, there should be no reason why you can't rebuild it... just take it apart carefully and don't torque the screws too much...

[tim w]

In 6th grade I had the big idea to make a tin foil phono out of a grape juice can, a lincoln log, and paper cone witn a needle on it. Ahhh, delusional kid’s fantasies.

[tim w]

I was referring to myself as delusional. I’m envious all you could figure this out at that time.

[Curt A]

In 6th grade I had the big idea to make a tin foil phono out of a grape juice can, a lincoln log, and paper cone witn a needle on it. Ahhh, delusional kid’s fantasies.

I can actually see why you picked those items as potential parts to build a tinfoil machine... not delusional thoughts, just a good imagination...