6" brown wax home recording

[Dave D]

The vault in our local museum has never been fully cataloged and this cylinder was found the other day. It is a home recording or possibly was recorded at a music shop. I did not know that blank 6" cylinders were available.

The record has a bit of mold and few divots. Is this sort of thing the Cylinder Doctor can repair? I would hate to play it with those divots.

The cylinder is from a local prominent family whose name everyone in this area would know. I believe it is a baby crying and that alone makes me wonder if I want to play it!

Was having a recording made at a shop something that was commonly done? Since it is a 6" cylinder, I assume it was done on a Columbia machine.

Dave D

[phonogfp]

That's a Type C Columbia blank, first made available in 1897 and used only with the Type C Graphophone (obviously!). Until 1905, the only 6" cylinders sold in the U.S. were blanks.

These cylinders are pretty scarce, and it's the first home recording I'm aware of that has been found in this format.

George P.

[Dave D]

Thanks, George. The woman who was recorded was born in 1900, so this fits the time frame. I do not own a Model C Graphophone, but I do have a BF that will play a 6" cylinder. I was told that the ball stylus on my reproducer will not harm the record. I need to repair my BF and clean the cylinder before we play it and record it.

I wonder where the machine ended up that made this recording? The mansion the family lived in was torn down many years ago. It was done in the middle of the night to avoid the public outcry that the new owners knew would happen. The lot still sits empty today, with a beautiful Victorian wrought iron fence around it.

Dave

[WDC]

What an interesting find! The mold damage is done and cannot be repaired. However, the cylinder (and the box as well!) should be carefully cleaned, which I do with 70% isopropyl alcohol. The main benefit is, that this will not only clean but at the same time kill any possible active parts of the mold.

I usually use cotton pads and gently wipe the cylinder by hand from the inside while in the box, followed by the outside on the rotating mandrel. After that, another gentle dry polish will make it shiny again. This cleaning method can also reduce the surface noise moderately, depending on how dirty the cylinder was before.

If you want to have the needle digs professionally repaired/filled, the cylinder doctor is certainly the man to go to.

[rgordon939]

The best product for cleaning wax cylinders is Labtone used with deionized water NOT DISTILLED WATER. Distilled water contains minerals that will be deposited back on the cylinder, deionized water is mineral free. This is what the Libary of Congress uses as well as the University of California for the preservation of cylinders. After cleaning and drying the cylinders I wrap them in 4X4 clean room wipes that I buy from Grangers and store them in thier original boxes. I've also attached the instructions for cleaning cylinders. #3 is the most important. Gently drag the cloth across the cylinder, do not SCRUB with it.

Rich Gordon

[Phonofreak]

Dave, Do not!!, I repeat, Do not!! play this cylinder on your BF. The Lyric reproducer is spring loaded and will damage the soft brown wax. The gold molded black wax cylinders have a harder wax compound, and will stand up to the pressure of Lyric reproducer. They wear out quickly, also. The brown wax is best played with a floating reproducer. Once you clean and have this cylinder cleaned and restored, I would look for a fellow collector in your area who has a Columbia C. A cylinder this rare, and a local history needs to be preserved at all costs.
Harvey Kravitz
Edited Sept. 5, 2016: I forgot to mention, make sure the cylinder gets restored or repaired, before playing.. Those divots can cause the stylus to snag and break off. The the reproducer will have to be repaired.

Thanks, George. The woman who was recorded was born in 1900, so this fits the time frame. I do not own a Model C Graphophone, but I do have a BF that will play a 6" cylinder. I was told that the ball stylus on my reproducer will not harm the record. I need to repair my BF and clean the cylinder before we play it and record it.

I wonder where the machine ended up that made this recording? The mansion the family lived in was torn down many years ago. It was done in the middle of the night to avoid the public outcry that the new owners knew would happen. The lot still sits empty today, with a beautiful Victorian wrought iron fence around it.

Dave

[edisonphonoworks]

I have used the labtone method as described, and it works well. It most likely should be transcribed with an electric pickup, I believe these to be 100 threads per inch if it was recorded on a Universal C. I can make these blanks too. The mold damage is not very bad, Columbia composition sometimes can be completely white and still the recording be loud and clear, while Edison composition does not fair as well with a lighter amount of mold. For this to have the original box and record is wonderful.

[WDC]

While Labtone indeed provides a good cleaning solution, I strongly recommend a treatment with IPA afterwards.

Labtone contains minerals als cleaning agents.
Unlike alcohol, it does not kill any mold. Instead, the minerals can feed it.
So, double or triple-rinsing after Labtone with clean water is essential, plus a wipe from both in- and outside with IPA.

Furthermore, cleaning the cylinder box with Labtone is simply impossible. But the inner felt lining do also contain mold spores. I use a pump spray to carefully apply the alcohol inside the box, then letting everything dry overnight.

So, just using Labtone and putting the cylinder back into its original box could lead to more long-term harm. That said, be careful.

[JerryVan]

Dave,

This is really cool. My thought would be to play it on an Archeophone machine: http://www.archeophone.org/warcheophone ... ations.php

I'll bet you don't have one... There is usually a guy at the Union show who does however. I'm sure there are also others who do and could play this recording. There probably isn't such a machine "right around the corner", but it would be worth the trip, I assume, to play & record this without doing damage. I'm assuming that the stylus pressure would be so slight that no damage would be done.

[Phonofreak]

Great suggestion. That way the cylinder can be played and recorded. Also, it will keep it's historical integrity intact.
Harvey Kravitz

Dave,

This is really cool. My thought would be to play it on an Archeophone machine: http://www.archeophone.org/warcheophone ... ations.php

I'll bet you don't have one... There is usually a guy at the Union show who does however. I'm sure there are also others who do and could play this recording. There probably isn't such a machine "right around the corner", but it would be worth the trip, I assume, to play & record this without doing damage. I'm assuming that the stylus pressure would be so slight that no damage would be done.