New to the Forum, and New to an Edison Home Mod D

[phonogal]

Glad you got it to work. It might be that you need to adjust the speed up a little bit as that will take some of the drag off the motor.

[Lucius1958]

One thing (of many) that I still don't understand: How does the stylus go into the groves of the cylinder? The stylus looks like it's at 90 degree to the cylinder grooves. And it looks like there is a point of metal (burr) coming off of the stylus arm that will hit the grooves first. Can you see that little point in the last pic i posted?

It's difficult to tell for sure from your earlier photo, but it looks like a Model H stylus bar. That's a 4-minute reproducer. The record in the photo looks like (again - it's difficult to be sure) a 2-minute cylinder. Don't play a 2-minute cylinder with a Model H reproducer.

Here's an article that illustrates all the basic Edison reproducers and the proper cylinder records they play:

http://www.antiquephono.org/basic-antiq ... onal-tips/

George P.

When I zoomed in on the photo, I noticed that it did not look like an Edison 4 minute stylus (unless it was from a Diamond reproducer?), or else a late Columbia 'spike' stylus. An H stylus would present a rounded profile at that view...

Alan, can you get an extreme close-up of that stylus, taken out of the carriage?

Bill

[AlanD]

Here is a close-up of the stylus.

[AlanD]

Even closer! Wow, I wasn't sure if this would work; camera via magnifying glass.

[Lucius1958]

OK: under good magnification, that does look like an Edison 4 minute stylus.... I guess I was misled by the earlier photo, which seemed to show a conical dtylus.

Bill

[AlanD]

Taking the motor apart and cleaning the gear bearings, and then re-oiling them helped.
It plays all the way through a four minute cylinder without the horn on the reproducer.
But when I put the horn on, it has a hard time making it through the whole song. I should point out
that this is a make-shift plastic funnel horn, which I figure is much liter that the correct metal horn.

I used clock oil this time; that I ordered from Merrit's clock parts several years ago.
I wonder how much that helped. I previously used electric motor oil in the zoom spout bottle.
Is there any other tips on helping it out?

Also, I suppose there's no way to upload a short video clip to the forum, just pics?

Alan

[phonogfp]

Is there any other tips on helping it out?

Alan

Try taking an ordinary business card or a 3" x 5" filing card and placing it on the straight edge, then place the carriage on top of it (playing position). Then, adjust the half-nut bar via the little screw until the threads just catch the feedscrew when you slide the carriage. Remove the card and your half-nut should be in adjustment.

George P.

[AlanD]

That did it!
Made it all the way through the song without stopping or having to wind it more.
After adjusting with the card like you said, I had to tweak that a bit further half way through
because it started repeating the same turn.

You know, I painted the straight edge (along with the rest of the deck) and carriage where they touch. Should I remove the paint there?
Has paint been found to cause more friction or sticking and holding the carriage back?

I sure want to thank everyone for all their help and advise here.
This is my first antique phonograph, and I have just one cylinder.
(I'm wondering if wifey is starting to get tired of "Where the river Shannon flows", haha).

[phonogfp]

You know, I painted the straight edge (along with the rest of the deck) and carriage where they touch. Should I remove the paint there?

I'm glad your adjustment worked. Now, remove the paint from the top of the straight edge with a razor and give it a quick polish with 0000 steel wool. Doing so will probably mean adjusting that half-nut again, but it will help reduce drag. A small drop of quality light oil (no Three-In-One!) on your pinky fingertip will also help if you spread it thinly over the top of the straight edge.

Also - if you painted the carriage, be sure there's no paint on the underside area where it contacts the straight edge.

George P.

[AlanD]

Update:

Thank you for helping this newbie get this old forgotten Home D running again.
To recap, this poor machine was languished to a back porch for years, and a lot of pieces went missing throughout the years.

So I recently acquired a lid for it off ebay, and as you can see its finish is very dark. Is this typical?
The Home D's finish was shot so I stripped it, but have not refinished it yet so what you see below is the bare unfinished Home D with the new lid on top.

Should I try to finish the Home D that dark to match the lid or strip the lid and go for a color darkness in between these two?
What would be typical? What stain? I know not to use poly on these finishes.

I'm also going to have to find a second bolt and handle - anybody have a spare handle?