What is this Columbia supposed to be?

[BillH_NJ]

What is this machine supposed to be or how did it start out? It has a BI arm, but the case was drilled on two sides for the mount. When I got it it was positioned so that the crank was on the front of the machine, possibly because the lid support does not clear the bolts when positioned on the rear. The arm does cover the round medallion on the back of the case. The motor casting is labeled AH and there appear to be two small filled holes about ⅞” apart on the rear panel. It does have the handle on the front and a turntable ring—at least now it does.

Did someone try to “convert” an AH into something like a BI? Or is it something else?

Bill

[startgroove]

Removed.

[startgroove]

As with many early Columbia machines there are several variations through the production years for a given model. Below are two BI's, each different from the other (at least in the placement of the decals). On both of them, the motor board opens from the left side, or the side opposite the crank.
On your machine, the small round decal, partially covered by the bracket, does not look right. Cheers, Russie

[BillH_NJ]

Thanks! The motorboard is hinged on the crank side, but that means that the support falls on the same side as the arm mount and the large bolts obstruct where the support would fall inside the case if were attached now. It could not be on the other side of the motorboard either, since the handle is mounted on the front and the support would hit the nuts on the inside of the front.

[startgroove]

Maybe this will help. Cheers, Russie

[BillH_NJ]

On my machine the support was on the left side, where it would hit the mounting bolts. If it were mounted on the right side as in your photo, it would hit the nuts holding the handle on in the front. I presume that may be why the arm mount was moved to the side of the case opposite the crank.

I can’t tell from your photo, but there is definitely an AH in the motor casting on the machine I have. I don’t know if that just means the same motor was used in other machines as well or whether it was originally in an AH.

Thanks again,
Bill

[startgroove]

Hmmm, it appears all of the parts of that machine are from a late AH or early BI. Of the two BI's in my photos above, the earlier one is the one with the handle on the side (though not on the same side as yours is), and the late AH had a handle on the panel to the left of the crank, and the early BI had a handle on the side opposite the crank. Also, the cast frame of the motor on my early BI has "AH" on it. Since the late AH and early BI had nearly identical cabinet and were offered merely a year apart, it seems likely that the motors and other details would be the same. You may have a late AH case and motor, with BI back bracket etc. Or, the back bracket etc could be from an early BII or one of the other high end Columbias.

[BillH_NJ]

OK, I’m giving up for now on trying to figure out what this really is. I pushed the dowel plugs out of the holes on the one side again and moved the arm back to the side opposite the crank. That puts the crank in front, which looks strange, but at least I can attach the lid support again and close it without it striking something on the front of the case. If I can every find out what it should really be maybe I can try to come up with a better solution.

Bill

[Lucius1958]

Hmmm, it appears all of the parts of that machine are from a late AH or early BI. Of the two BI's in my photos above, the earlier one is the one with the handle on the side (though not on the same side as yours is), and the late AH had a handle on the panel to the left of the crank, and the early BI had a handle on the side opposite the crank. Also, the cast frame of the motor on my early BI has "AH" on it. Since the late AH and early BI had nearly identical cabinet and were offered merely a year apart, it seems likely that the motors and other details would be the same. You may have a late AH case and motor, with BI back bracket etc. Or, the back bracket etc could be from an early BII or one of the other high end Columbias.

Interesting: my BI also has "AH" dimly visible on the motor casting; but it also has a late-style decal.

Another detail I notice on the OP's machine: the dust ring seems to be slightly too large for the case, compared with Russie's example. Could it be non-original?

-Bill

[Jerry B.]

I noticed the appearance of a gap between the dust ring and the turntable in the original photos. But I'm not sure the ring is larger. I think there are no felt or rubber washers between the motor and top board. The lack washers would raise the motor with turntable above the dust ring and create the appearance of a too large dust ring. My suspicions...

Jerry B.