Edison Home Phonograph

[dzavracky]

I found this for $65 near me. I wanted a restoration project for this winter so it seemed like a good deal!

Firstly can someone give me advice on fixing the missing panel on the lid?
The model c reproducer is in two pieces and I don’t have the missing parts. How much is a new one? Or should I have it fixed?
The case is broken in the left side. Any tips on gluing/ patching the wood? I probably need to get a sheet of oak center to fix it?
I need a belt for this Edison and my other one. Where do I get one?
Luckily after all this the motor started right up!

Any other advice/ tips would be awesome

David

[AZ*]

I think you got a good deal. That appears to me to be a Home Model D (I think) with 2/4 minute gearing. I suggest looking for a Model K reproducer so you can play 4 minute Blue Amberol records. The K's aren't cheap, however. Or you could find a Model H for 4 minute only.

Belt - contact either Wyatt Marcus "MicaMonster" here on TMF or Walt Sommers on ebay "cyber_tigger".

Wood parts repairs - I would suggest looking for a basket case machine with the parts you need. You could advertise for the parts in the Yankee Trader section of the forum.

That machine may clean up nicely. I wouldn't totally strip and refinish it if it were mine. The striping on the bedplate should look nice after a gentle cleaning. It has the blue stripe as well as the gold. You may need to replace the pot metal mandrel bearing at some stage. Sitko sells those.

[dzavracky]

thanks!

[ts_13]

Good grab! I spoke with him last night, and had sent another guy who was looking for a project to get it! Looks like you beat him to it... He was slow!

[VanEpsFan1914]

That thing is gonna sound righteous.
You already have an original cygnet horn back bracket. Get a crane & paint up a new horn (try wood grained if you can find one!) and you have got Edwardian hi-fi right there. Cygnets sound amazing and the Model C or Model H reproducers are so simple (and potent, with their pleated diaphragms) that you won't dislike it. Try to find them with original diaphragms as they are more compliant and sensitive than replica copper ones, and if your Model C is an early model with a mica diaphragm (looks like glass) then you really are in for a treat. I did an old Model A Home with one and it had a very clear sound.


FOR WOODWORKING: I have the bottom board of an Amberola 30 in the shed and I am living in Nashville, Tennessee, so if you want it I will throw it in the old car when I go back to Nashville and--there you go, plenty of wood to make sawdust with to fill the cracks in the corner. (Your case can be repaired. They were glued with hide glue & tend to come apart at the seams if exposed to moisture.)

Reproducer: Fix your Model C. It needs a new hinge block, linkage, gaskets, maybe diaphragm, and a stylus bar, plus the screws that hold the thing together. Model C reproducers are simpler than the K, and that's better--a cylinder machine is a touchy little thing and simple is best.
You will also want to get a Model H reproducer. I have a Model K but someone Bubba'd the repairs years ago when parts were hard to get, and it sounded like garbage--repairing it will be costly and I am unemployed and trying to get my broke behind into a college.

On belts: Wyatt Markus (Micamonster on the forum) makes amazing belts. They run so smoothly and if you have a little white glue & a razor you can put them on.

The Model K reproducer is a neat bit of engineering, and I have one on a 1909 Model A Fireside because it was OEM equipment. Though well-built the Fireside is still a cutesy version of an Edison Standard, cheapened up to simplify production, and if everything isn't ship-shape & Bristol fashion it won't go. This applies to the reproducer. There is a turnover on the bottom that swivels the 2-m or 4m stylus into position to play, which means 2 stylus bars, one overworked linkage, and a tendency to buzz--not to mention so much hardware dangling from the bottom of the tailweight that a slightly warped cylinder is going to be damaged at each revolution. At 160 RPM it can chew up any out-of-round record on it and sound awful doing it.

Now I do love the Model K--it's still cool--but it's not for everyone. Besides, you already have a Model C (mostly) and that gives you an idea that the original owners enjoyed your Edison Home with a C or an H reproducer, heard through the big cygnet horn--it probably sounded great.

Have fun! This one's so far gone that you could either do it back to a "well-preserved" patina look, or fully "Remanufactured," and either way would be wonderful. Keep us posted and if you want that chunk of Edison wood, let me know. It's going in the burn pile otherwise.

[dzavracky]

Wow thanks for all the helpful info! I would love to have that piece of wood so please don’t burn it!!

I really want to have it look brand new.... is refinishing an option since it’s in horrible shape? I know you can get reproduction decals and the one on there is gone haha.

Could someone please educate me on all these Edison reproducers? I’m pretty new to these machines so I have no idea really what is the difference between all them haha.

Thanks,
David

[ts_13]

Wow thanks for all the helpful info! I would love to have that piece of wood so please don’t burn it!!

I really want to have it look brand new.... is refinishing an option since it’s in horrible shape? I know you can get reproduction decals and the one on there is gone haha.

Could someone please educate me on all these Edison reproducers? I’m pretty new to these machines so I have no idea really what is the difference between all them haha.

Thanks,
David

Hey man I am right down the road. Feel free to give me a call anytime you want to talk shop.

T

[VanEpsFan1914]

I'll pack up the wood. It's part of the latest known survivor of the Amberola 30 c. 1925-1929, but that machine got a new base board as the old one fell apart. Thanks for giving me a reason to save it and use it on a new phonograph restoration!

Refinishing is an option but if you think it looks bad now, wait until you refinish it wrong. A good cleaning might help it. Or if I were doing it I would strip & redo it with period materials. Educate yourself with the Forum's search function and you can't mess up. Shellac is the right finishing material and it should come out beautiful to really highlight the original wood.

Even the iron top works could be painted. The proper paint is black Japan, or asphaltum paint, and Martin (Mormon S) knows how to use that, I think. I use canned lacquer spray, and some people use black refrigerator epoxy. You will want to spray it lightly with 2 coats clear shellac afterwards, in the right weather so you don't make a mess as the stuff dries wrong in cold.

My last paint project was a 1920s electric heater and I used it to cook its own finish. Spray paint that went on looking like an orange peel in the Tennessee cold dried to a smooth glossy sheen with a little radiant warmth. If you need to borrow the heater you can, but I want it back as it gets cold upstairs in the old house.

Reproducers:

Model C: Sapphire doorknob stylus for 2 minute cylinder. (100 threads per inch)
Model H: Sapphire pointed stylus for 4 minute cylinder (200 threads per inch)
Model K: Dual styli mounted on rotating cartridge for 2 or 4 minute cylinders, expensive and complicated but kind of cool.

If you do restore it--get your decal from Gregg Cline at phono decal.com. It's wonderful just how close his decals are to the original Edison product. But please only use the script Edison decal instead of the banner--your machine isn't that old. A banner decal on a Home D is the hallmark of the amateur repairman.

[phonogfp]

Could someone please educate me on all these Edison reproducers? I’m pretty new to these machines so I have no idea really what is the difference between all them haha.

Here's an article that shows the more common Edison Reproducers, along with the types of cylinders for which each is appropriate:

https://www.antiquephono.org/basic-anti ... onal-tips/

Good luck with your restoration!

George P.

[dzavracky]

for past projects i have used GOJO and fine steel wool to clean the wood. it seems to work very well. Does anyone have a different method for cleaning woood?

What should I use to clean the metal? the paint is in really great shape and i dont want to mess it up.