How many cylinders can an Edison Fireside Model A play?

[Curt A]

"Any ideas why someone might have wanted to do this?"

Period Insanity...

[JerryVan]

The rivet would be a press fit into the shaft. Most likely, the rivet hole goes all the way through the shaft. If so, the rivet would protrude slightly through the shaft. The protrusion would then be peined over to secure the rivet. The rivet itself should have a flanged head, then step down to a smaller diameter for a short distance, then step down again to form the shank of the rivet. The short step down under the flange keeps the flange away from the shaft in order to make clearance for the spring to fit under the flange.

[gr8ham]

Ok, so I got the collar insert off the arbour and fashioned a new rivet from a nailhead that I then peened into the rivet hole. Grabs the end of the spring just fine and looks almost like it belongs! Got the spring back into the barrel and greased up and, lo and behold, I now get two full 4M cylinders and about 30 seconds into a third one before the spring winds down. I'm going to call that a success!

[Jerry B.]

This Standard B is the machine I use for classroom and family gathering use. It is a sweet playing and quiet machine thanks to Cliff Bolling and a new spring. I've always thought the playing time for a Standard and Fireside to be about the same. I gave it a full winding and it played three and a half Blue Amberol cylinders before a hint of slowing. That's about what I expected.

Jerry Blais

[gr8ham]

A gorgeous machine with a horn support mount I haven't encountered before. Is it a factory option or aftermarket?

Nothing on my machine seems to be creating extra friction and the spring for the Model A was the same as for the Standard so any thoughts as to what I can tweak to get some extra playing time out of it?

[Jerry B.]

The crane brackets are after market.. It allows me to use the small Edison morning glory horn normally used on the Edison Gem. It sounds good and makes the whole outfit more portable.

When Cliff Bolling installed the new spring and demonstrated the motor he commented on how quiet the motor operated. He also said he believed it was a low mileage motor. Perhaps that's why it plays 3.5 Blue Amberol cylinders.

Jerry B.