Arm support for Columbia AH disc phonograph

[Enrico]

Here are photos of my spare bracket for mounting a Columbia support arm. Jerry B.

Got it thanks Jerry!

[Enrico]

Ok I got curious today while I was down in the phonolair and took the front mount bracket off my early AH.
So my machine does indeed have two mounting holes ⅝"(16mm)apart, not ⅞"(22mm) apart, center to center.
But the mounting bracket holes are ⅞"(22mm) apart.
The mounting bracket was held on using one screw not two.
You can see from the witness mark where the unused screw hole left a mark in the case finish.
I've never had this machine apart for any cleaning so I never noticed it before.
The one screw that is being used is much longer than the two screws you normally see used on these brackets.
So this doesn't explain anything but it sure makes me wonder if there isn't another bracket with holes closer together than the norm were use to seeing. Or could some of the early AH's been miss drilled.

Yes, in fact also other Columbia machines that I have have 16mm as distance. The problem is my AH which has 11mm as distance between hole and hole!

[Enrico]

Not to go off topic, I was not aware that Columbia ever had a model with a record hold down clamp.

I have an early AH. I will look at the spacing between holes. I think it better to measure center-to-center rather than edge-to-edge.

By the way, the two machines shown are both good-looking machines.

John

I'm curious to know the spacing between holes of your machine. Thanks!

[JerryVan]

Ok I got curious today while I was down in the phonolair and took the front mount bracket off my early AH.
So my machine does indeed have two mounting holes ⅝"(16mm)apart, not ⅞"(22mm) apart, center to center.
But the mounting bracket holes are ⅞"(22mm) apart.
The mounting bracket was held on using one screw not two.
You can see from the witness mark where the unused screw hole left a mark in the case finish.
I've never had this machine apart for any cleaning so I never noticed it before.
The one screw that is being used is much longer than the two screws you normally see used on these brackets.
So this doesn't explain anything but it sure makes me wonder if there isn't another bracket with holes closer together than the norm were use to seeing. Or could some of the early AH's been miss drilled.

Yes, in fact also other Columbia machines that I have have 16mm as distance. The problem is my AH which has 11mm as distance between hole and hole!

Enrico,

Is your 11mm dimension taken from the center of one hole to the center of the other, or is it the space between the edge of one hole and the edge of the other? Please refer only to the center-to-center dimension so we're all on the same page here.

[Enrico]

Ok I got curious today while I was down in the phonolair and took the front mount bracket off my early AH.
So my machine does indeed have two mounting holes ⅝"(16mm)apart, not ⅞"(22mm) apart, center to center.
But the mounting bracket holes are ⅞"(22mm) apart.
The mounting bracket was held on using one screw not two.
You can see from the witness mark where the unused screw hole left a mark in the case finish.
I've never had this machine apart for any cleaning so I never noticed it before.
The one screw that is being used is much longer than the two screws you normally see used on these brackets.
So this doesn't explain anything but it sure makes me wonder if there isn't another bracket with holes closer together than the norm were use to seeing. Or could some of the early AH's been miss drilled.

Yes, in fact also other Columbia machines that I have have 16mm as distance. The problem is my AH which has 11mm as distance between hole and hole!

Enrico,

Is your 11mm dimension taken from the center of one hole to the center of the other, or is it the space between the edge of one hole and the edge of the other? Please refer only to the center-to-center dimension so we're all on the same page here.

You are right Jerry, so it's about 16mm center to center. I made confusion. I apologize. It now seems clear to me that I need an arm support whose holes are about 16mm from center to center.

Do any of you have one to sell?

Thank you guys for all your help!
Enrico

[JerryVan]

No apologies needed. Just trying to help. I'm sorry, but I don't have one to sell.

[Enrico]

You have been very helpful to me!

[jboger]

I have three AH's, all with different motors. These include the earliest version under discussion in this thread. And I have an early front-mount AK (well most of it). All four have the cast aluminum arm mount that takes two screws to secure it to the side of the case. I believe one of the four is a reproduction. Nonetheless all four have two holes that are 22 mm center to center.

By the way, none of these ever took a record clamp. So curious about the one illustrated above.

[Pathe Logical]

jboger,

The very earliest versions of the Columbia AH and AJ have record hold downs and roughly 0.25" thick, aluminum (?) turntables.

Bob

[phonogfp]

I have three AH's, all with different motors. These include the earliest version under discussion in this thread. And I have an early front-mount AK (well most of it). All four have the cast aluminum arm mount that takes two screws to secure it to the side of the case. I believe one of the four is a reproduction. Nonetheless all four have two holes that are 22 mm center to center.

By the way, none of these ever took a record clamp. So curious about the one illustrated above.

An article on the development of the AH Disc Graphophone appeared in the March 2007 issue of The Sound Box (now The Antique Phonograph), and the earliest model with a record clamp was pictured.

In June 2016, with much help from a number of this Forum's members, another article appeared in The Antique Phonograph describing and illustrating all 4 known major variations of the AH Disc Graphophone from 1901-1905. The record clamp and cast aluminum turntable were minor variations of the Type 1 machines. By serial #7778 the record clamp had been dropped.

I keep saying it: the Antique Phonograph Society's magazine is a major source of information that no serious collector should be without.

George P.