Johnny Smoke wrote:De Soto Frank wrote:The majority of my nearly two-dozen spring-motor talking machines are still running on their original springs...
The only machine I have actually replaced a spring in was my 1918 VV-XI, and that was only one of the two springs...
( I have mended a few springs that had broken "eyes" at one end or the other... not more than two.)
My father collected talking machines for 65 years.His collection was well over 300. He replaced springs on the motors on at least half of these Victors, Edisons , Brunswicks , etc.
Why would you replace only one spring on a motor?
And were do you get such pristine machines? Regards, Johnny
Hi Johnny,
I have casually been collecting talking machines for over thirty years now ( since my early teens ), and grew-up playing a VV-IX that my family brought home from an estate-sale when I was about four. That particular machine is absolutely unrestored, aside from a well-intentioned teen-aged attempt to "re-amalgamate" the original finish (usual badly-alligatored red mahogany). Original springs, still runs fine, although I should probably pull the motor down, and clean all the fossilized vaseline & graphite out of it...
As for why springs fail in certain machines and not in others, I cannot say. I believe the old instruction books cautioned to let a newly-delivered machine come to room-temperature overnight before attempting to wind / play, if it had been exposed to freezing weather during delivery...
If a machine were left fully wound and stored in an attic, barn, shed, or other space where exposed to extremes of temperature, that could cause a spring to break...
When I have encountered machines with a broken spring, that is how I have found them - I have never (yet) had a main-spring break during winding or play-back, or even while a machine has been in my ownership. Perhaps my day is coming..
The only catastrophic failure I've had with a spring-wind machine was with my unrestored Edison Home-B, when demonstrating it at a Christmas party: I was re-winding after a few cylinders when all of a sudden there was a "crunch", "Bang", then "Zizzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" as the spring unwound. Turns-out there's a little bronze pinion gear that is known for splitting and letting the whole works go.
I have another "Home", with the already-split gear rolling around in the bottom of the case.
I have to get some replacements from Ron Sitko.
As to "why did I replace only one spring?" in the Victrola XI, I was still fairly young, and that was the only spring that was broken, and it was the outside one in the barrel. It's been fine for nearly 15 years.
And "where do I get such pristine machines?" - well, where-ever I can...
E-bay, Craigslist, The Yankee Trader Forum here...
I also have a local antique / junque dealer that does a lot of estate clean-outs, and they contact me when they get decent talking machines and radios... I've gotten some decent stuff from them over the years, including the afore-mentioned Victrola XI, which is golden oak that is in lovely condition, but was almost black with coal / attic dust.
They're not all ( perhaps none are) "pristine"... As I've gotten older, and life, work, family demands have increased, I've been forced to realize that I do not really have the time and energy ( or space) to save every derelict / basket-case machine that comes-along cheap. So, when I do buy a machine, I try to get ones that are complete, and in decent condition.
My first Orthophonic,(VE-8-12X) came from the estate of a great-aunt, and was originally purchased by my great-grandmother. It always lived in a darkened front parlor, where the shades were kept drawn, and it was lightly used. It is very close to pristine.
I am a decent mechanic, and can handle most repairs, but really do not have the means or skills to rebuild / refinish cabinets... I can tolerate an aged finish that still polishes-up presentably...
I took a fair chance recently on a two-door Victrola Credenza that had been in a collector's barn ( literally old, wooden farm-barn ) for a few decades. During that time, it donated its serial plate, taper-tube, and Orthophonic sound-box to other machines, and the front "bun-feet" had delaminated and shed their front pieces, but the pieces were with the machine, and the grille cloth had a couple of long tears
. And, I think it has a broken spring
. In spite of all that, the finish is in surprisingly decent shape, and will probably clean-up well. The initial price seemed attractive, but by the time I replace the missing pieces, and fix the issues, my investment in this machine will probably equal or exceed what I would be able to sell it for... but I bought it to have a Credenza, not for a flip & quick buck.
From what I hear about the show at Union, that seems to be place to get decent machines very reasonably...
That's my little story, so far...
Frank
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