FOLLOW THE RESTORATION: It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a...

[phonogfp]

Just kind of amazed that someone would go to all the trouble to make every last bit themselves.


Especially the castings.

If you have a copy of The Talking Machine Compendium or Discovering Antique Phonographs, you can see a number of other machines that were hand-made, including the castings. This accounts for my comment above in this thread. Why would anyone go to the trouble and expense of doing this? Evidently for the simple joy of creation and a demonstration of skill. (Personally, I think he should have stopped short of the motor pinstriping! )

Note that the upper casting deviates from the Edison Standard A not only through the absence of a hole for the speed adjustment, but the slot for the on/off lever. Also, check out the slot where the belt passes through - there's a little notch at the end to accommodate it. Note also the width of the straight-edge at the base - - far clunkier than the Edison.

George P.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... ire#p91754

[Bruce]

Excellent analysis Wyatt and I look forward to following the restoration of this one of a kind phonograph.

It makes sense to me that someone with the requisite skills would have make a phonograph just for the interest and pleasure of doing so.

My Grandfather was a machinist and electrician who in his youth (1930s to 60s) made a lot of devices from scratch just for the pleasure of doing so. Many of these were for the pleasure of his three boys, as he could not afford to buy store bought toys. Some of these were "replicas" of the larger machines and others were simply inspired by working machines.
Unfortunately he never tackled phonographs.

Bruce

[fran604g]

Fascinating, Wyatt (as always). I'd love to see a photo of the "...double-roller arrangement which I am going to repair before installing it on the machine."

I'll stay tuned!

Best,
Fran

[MicaMonster]

Wow! This thread took off real fast! I'm still trying to catch up. More information later, but I wanted to show The repair to the speed adjustment. I had to re-solder a few of the broken joints with silver. The fork on the end sits under the governor, and as the governor slows down it contacts the fork and closes the circuit for the motor

[jboger]

I'll put my ignorance on display as well--not the first time. But the right bedplate in the photos looks like an Edison bedplate that beens cut down on the left side. Note that on the right side, the corners are rounded, but not on the left as if someone made a straight cut across. No disrespect to anyone, especially the author who has showed his knowledge and skills many times to the amazement of me and others.

[MicaMonster]

The bedplates on this machine are nearly ¼" thick....definitely not Edison at all. Nothing is. Even the Standard Model A side is nothing more than a modeled mock-up that was cast in iron, and machined to operate. After spending a few hours playing with it, I think I got all of it's weird quirks ironed out. The motor is wired in parallel, and I have left it that way. This beast will run at 9V, but really likes to be run at 12V, drawing 5Amps!!!! I was able to get the governor fork to sit a little flatter, so it runs a bit quieter. Before I get onto other details, I wanted to address the machine's history. The current owner acquired this many many many years ago from an elderly gentleman who claimed that his father worked at the Edison factory. It was his father who made it. I have no doubt that his father probably admired the beauty of a Class-M, but didn't like its hefty bulk. This machine is so light, that it can afford to have an elaborate wood frame and legs in addition to its mahogany base cabinet.

The mechanism was VERY dusty and dirty. I had to use a fine horsehair brush to go around everything to remove the dust. The original paint was applied straight onto the metal, so it is very delicate, and flakes off if you look at it funny. I decided to use a liquid polish to remove the rest of the dust and leave a gentle shine behind. It's all that can be done. Any other type of solvent will just remove the paint by the inch!

Here is a jar of spare mystery parts that came with the machine. In these parts, I see what could have been a crane mount, that was never installed, and other things could be brush holders for the motor. The only thing that I found use for was the double-roller, which I mounted underneath. You will see why shortly.

[MicaMonster]

As you see, the fork sits right under the governor cuff. Without a shunt resistor, the operation is a tad bit less smooth than a Class M, but it does get the job done. The power pulley is atop the armature, and the belt is routed to the double pulleys and angles up 90 degrees to the phonograph mandrel. To keep the belt from wandering and jumping off the pulleys, I put a single twist in the belt....this helps keep them in track, hard to see in the photos, though.

The directive of this work is to get the machine cleaned up (as much as can be done), get all of the electrical connections cleaned up, and also to re-route the wiring as it looks like someone tried to wire it up in the past in a failed attempt to make it run. I had to re-route a few wires under the switch plate. But now, everything is tidy! A video is forthcoming!

[MicaMonster]

I'm having difficulty inserting the correct embed code for the YouTube video. But this should work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxsEy4XprWE

[alang]

Amazing machine. Congratulations to bringing it back to life and thank you very much for sharing this interesting piece of technology.

Andreas

[Mr Grumpy]

Very interesting machine, great job bringing it back.

I'm having difficulty inserting the correct embed code for the YouTube video. But this should work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxsEy4XprWE

Just place the link between the youtube code -

(Double-click the video above or click this link to go to the video on YouTube.)

Then remove the 's' in 'https://'

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxsEy4XprWE[/youtube]