Victor Concert

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phonojim
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Re: Victor Concert

Post by phonojim »

What an intriguing solution. If I can find someone to make one of these for me I can rebuild my Concert at last. BTW: what does one use for replacement gaskets? Exhibition tubing perhaps?

Jim

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Curt A
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Re: Victor Concert

Post by Curt A »

One, very important additional piece of information: BEFORE you disassemble it, lightly mark both pieces, so when re-assembled they line up correctly to give the needle bar the correct angle. If you break the mica to open it, you also have to re-attach a hair thin wire from the mica to the needle bar and this can be challenging... The original way it was done was to squeeze the wire into the tiny slot in the needle bar and crimping it - opening this tiny slot is next to impossible, so you might have to connect the wire to the outside of the needle bar with a drop of glue. I found that if I held the wire with spring shut tweezers (the type used to hold wires together for soldering) and mounted the tweezers on a magnet to hold them in the correct position (use the magnet as a "base" for the tweezers)that made all the difference in holding the wire in place while the glue dried. Someone might have a better idea, but this worked for me.
"The phonograph† is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.

"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
My Wife

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startgroove
Victor III
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Location: Coos Bay, Oregon

Re: Victor Concert

Post by startgroove »

What is the bar on the lower right of the drawing? How does striking the edge of the tool at the back side separate the two pieces of the reproducer? It looks like the separation occurs when the inner part is struck by going through the mica, but that would destroy the mica. I can make this tool on my lathe, but first I want to understand the operation of the tool.

Yamaphone
Victor O
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Location: Hurley, New York

Re: Victor Concert

Post by Yamaphone »

Hi, I'm the member that made the drawing of the tool. First of all, the bar on the lower right just represents any convenient piece of metal or a hammer used to strike the end of the tool. If you make the tool, remember that the knurled outer part of the reproducer has to slip easily into the larger part of the bore and come to bottom out on the step in the bore. The small part of the bore must be just large enough to allow the back of the reproducer to slide through. I tried as best I could to show this in the drawing. When the end of the tool is rapped with the bar or hammer, the force is conducted to the knurled part but not the back part of the reproducer. The inertia of the back part will try to keep it from moving so the front part moves forward and the back part tries to remain stationary thereby causing the two parts to move away from each other.
Unfortunately, I no longer have a Concert reproducer nor the tool that I made, otherwise I could post a picture of it.
It's kind of hard to describe the action in words, but once the tool is used, the action is easy to see. If you have any other questions, I'll do my best to help. Just remember that the inner (smaller) bore has to be just large enough to allow the back of the reproducer to slide into it.
Dan Z.

JerryVan
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Re: Victor Concert

Post by JerryVan »

Yamaphone wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 9:36 pm Hi, I'm the member that made the drawing of the tool. First of all, the bar on the lower right just represents any convenient piece of metal or a hammer used to strike the end of the tool. If you make the tool, remember that the knurled outer part of the reproducer has to slip easily into the larger part of the bore and come to bottom out on the step in the bore. The small part of the bore must be just large enough to allow the back of the reproducer to slide through. I tried as best I could to show this in the drawing. When the end of the tool is rapped with the bar or hammer, the force is conducted to the knurled part but not the back part of the reproducer. The inertia of the back part will try to keep it from moving so the front part moves forward and the back part tries to remain stationary thereby causing the two parts to move away from each other.
Unfortunately, I no longer have a Concert reproducer nor the tool that I made, otherwise I could post a picture of it.
It's kind of hard to describe the action in words, but once the tool is used, the action is easy to see. If you have any other questions, I'll do my best to help. Just remember that the inner (smaller) bore has to be just large enough to allow the back of the reproducer to slide into it.
Dan Z.
I like the idea! Rather than striking the backside with a hammer, might you consider repeatedly slamming the tool down against a hard surface?

I'm thinking that mica damage may still occur, depending on how "stuck" the mica is to the old gaskets. Still, you have a far better chance of success with this tool. And, even if it doesn't work, you can still go the old route. No harm done...

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Curt A
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Re: Victor Concert

Post by Curt A »

"Rather than striking the backside with a hammer, might you consider repeatedly slamming the tool down against a hard surface?"

Good idea... that makes more sense - let gravity work.
"The phonograph† is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.

"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
My Wife

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