The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello! I have an Edison home model D I’ve been working on restoring the best I can. I had another post about tools and rust remover so I’m all set there but I have a question about this particular piece. I don’t know a lot about how phonographs work - I’m still learning. The diagrams I could find called this piece the “main shaft”. I have a photo here of the one I have (the rusty one on the towel) and a photo I took offline that has the part I’m talking about circled. Now it looks to me like at one point there were fine lines on this piece. With all the pitting on it I can tell that those lines are pretty much gone. Is that an issue as far as playing a cylinder? I’ll probably clean it all up regardless as I’m not sure if I will be able to get this machine to play but wanted to see if I should keep my eye out for a replacement part. Any help is appreciated!!

I would describe your rusty part as the feed screw for a Model D Home. The half nut of the carriage engages the feed screw as it turns. This moves the carriage across the cylinder.

I don't know if your feed screw can be saved. If the half nut does not engage properly the carriage will not move properly. That's a major problem.

I'd suggest you take careful measurements of the length of your rusty feed screw and check for marking stamped at the end. Then I would place a wanted ad in our Trader.

Good luck, Jerry Blais

Thanks Jerry! That was my thought - that it couldn’t be saved. I’ll have to be on the lookout for a new one eventually!

At least by looking at the picture, I can't even see the threads that it should have anymore. If that's indeed the case, it's definitely too far gone and as already said by Jerry needs to be replaced or the phonograph will never work properly.