Odd Exhibition Reproducer - No Screws

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JeffR1
Victor II
Posts: 499
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2021 11:04 pm
Location: British Columbia Vancouver Island Canada

Odd Exhibition Reproducer - No Screws

Post by JeffR1 »

My first post, hello everybody !
I initially was going to ask for help on how to get this apart, but it took so long to get approved to post here, I was on my own to figure it out, so here are some photos and what I did to install new gaskets.
There are no screws, the diaphragm is held in there with a brass snap ring, I was worried it was pot metal, but it turned out to be brass.
The cracks you see in the ring are just cracks in the nickel.
I made this brass piece to get the ring started _ this was possible just to catch the edge as the ring was not totally centred to the reproducer body.
I used a small drill press vice to gently squeeze the snap ring with the brass block so I could start working it out with some jewelers screw drivers.
This worked quite well, and then I later realized it wasn't in there that tight, and I could have simply started it with a small screw driver, being very carful of course, prying along its circumference until free _ it was actually quite easy.
There is a shoulder on the reproducer to keep the ring from traveling into far so even tension is kept on the gaskets _ it just used the standard white round rubber gasket, although I did use the new silicone material that's out there now.
Take note too that, when it was put together at the factory wrong, the snap ring that was not centred interfered with the needle bar, it was making contact with it _ it would have sounded terrible.
All adjusted and back together, it sounds great now, it always astonished me how such a crude device that uses no electricity and simple acoustical application can sound so good, it's best outside.
Here are some photo's, it's from my Victor IV, it was used early on for a few months on the Victrola IV machines, but not on my outside Victor IV.
The cabinet needs some serious work, it's been butchered quite a bit and I'll make a new thread on that with photos.
The third last photo shows a piece of nylon that I turned in the lathe so I could put it in the vice with out worry of damaging the reproducer.

http://www.victor-victrola.com/Soundboxes.htm
Attachments
Sideways.JPG
Ring Groove.JPG
Ring Groove 2.JPG
Reverse Side.JPG
Bad Rubber.JPG
Sideways.JPG
Snap Ring.JPG
Perished Gasket.JPG
Holder.JPG
Brass Block.JPG
Brass Bit.JPG
Last edited by JeffR1 on Wed Aug 25, 2021 4:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

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JerryVan
Victor Monarch Special
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Location: Southeast MI

Re: Odd Exhibition Reproducer - No Screws

Post by JerryVan »

Nice work! Welcome to the forum!

JeffR1
Victor II
Posts: 499
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2021 11:04 pm
Location: British Columbia Vancouver Island Canada

Re: Odd Exhibition Reproducer - No Screws

Post by JeffR1 »

Thanks. :)
It was a little nerve wracking at first, but then I soon realized it was pretty simple.
I'm used to working on cars where snap rings don't come out that easily.

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jamiegramo
Victor III
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Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 5:52 am
Location: St. Albans, UK

Re: Odd Exhibition Reproducer - No Screws

Post by jamiegramo »

The nickel on your example looks very nice!

I have always known this reproducer as the ‘type O exhibition’, I was interested that in the Victor Victrola link you give it is referred to as the ‘No 15’. I wonder if anyone can confirm that? I ask this because this site shows inaccuracies on other reproducers. The Clark Johnson soundbox is shown as the New Century, which it isn’t. And it says that the Exhibition didn’t appear until the end of 1904, when it’s more like early 1903.


http://www.victor-victrola.com/Soundboxes.htm

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Inigo
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Re: Odd Exhibition Reproducer - No Screws

Post by Inigo »

My example is branded Exhibition Junior in the backplate behind the mica.
Inigo

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jamiegramo
Victor III
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Re: Odd Exhibition Reproducer - No Screws

Post by jamiegramo »

Inigo wrote: Thu Aug 26, 2021 8:04 pm My example is branded Exhibition Junior in the backplate behind the mica.
Your example will be one made for export branded for the Gramophone Company. In Europe it is known as the Exhibition Junior or if branded for Zonophone it was sold as the Zonophone Detachable Soundbox.

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