The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I am trying to rebuild a reproducer from a Columbia client machine. There is a rubber flange with 6 screw mounting holes that attaches it to the tonearm. Are reproductions of this part available? Anyone out there ever worked on one of these?

Personally, (just my opinion) I would opt for a different replacement reproducer in better condition...

Something has been "made up" here! Those rubber flanges belong to Columbia No.15 soundboxes, which are a lot later than the one you have illustrated. But to answer your question, no, there are no modern replacements for the flanges, many of us wish there were! I agree with the previous post, that soundbox is in appalling condition, and given that it a bodge job anyway, a complete replacement would seem the best solution.

Barry

I am pretty sure it is authentic. I have worked on 4 of these United "Symphony" machines now. All of them had the same tonearm, reproducer and gasket.

I am investigating making a short run of these rubber Columbia flanges. Does anyone think there would be enough interest in them to make the project feasible? Probably will work out to about $20 a flange.

Are they compatible with the viva tonal reproducer no15, which used a similar rubber with six screws? If it's the same, I'll take two of them!
This rubber is attached to the body with three screwed bolts, then to the opposite plate which has the neck with other three bolts. The rubber has a complex profile, with countersunk holes for the screws, within the inner thinned part, and a raised neck ring, and also a raised border. It should be made by molding...?

Here is an image of a mostly intact flange. I am currently working on a CAD file for the part. If I can assure myself I can sell at least 50 of them for around $20 a pop I will go ahead and get a run made. It is approximately 1.5 inches in diameter and ¼ thick. It has countersinks for 6 screws, 3 going in each direction.

It's likely the same rubber as for later no15 soundbox. If it is, measures have to be checked, I'm sure there's a market for those difficult to get rubber joints. Mine are substituted by two plain rubber joints glued together and to the soundbox parts, the screws being safely stored away. I still keep the original hard spoiled rubber. I'll check later the measurements and come back...

One oddity about these Columbia rubber plates is that while the US-made rubber hardened with time, the UK plates, of identical design but certainly of different rubber composition, maintained their flexibility, some looking like new today.

Wondering if a "rubbery" material can be 3D printed...

JerryVan wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 7:54 am Wondering if a "rubbery" material can be 3D printed...

The simple answer to this is "yes" but there are limitations in the range of physical properties.
Most 3d printable synthetic rubbers are at the harder end of the range. It therefore depends
upon what sort of rubber is a suitable replacement to go in the soundbox.
If you were planning to make more than a few, it would probably be more cost effective to 3d
print a mould and cast the parts. There is a wider range of castable rubbers available.