Home Model B follow-the-restoration.

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VanEpsFan1914
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Home Model B follow-the-restoration.

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

So anyway I have an Edison Home B up for restoration.

I bought it in October at the CAMPS swapmeet and thought it would be a good candidate for a complete restoration. It was.

Then I moved,
and then it snowed,
and then I got bored.

SO HERE WE GO.

I am sure that other, better restorers would have tried salvaging the original finish on this phonograph, but I saw the shellac coming up in great flakes and figured that it was time to start over.
Attachments
This actually makes the decal look better than it was. Passing a hand over the surface left great flakes of decal coming up.
This actually makes the decal look better than it was. Passing a hand over the surface left great flakes of decal coming up.
Oops.
Oops.
Bottom board of case had split almost entirely--a common problem with the bottoms of Edisons and the tops of Victors.
Bottom board of case had split almost entirely--a common problem with the bottoms of Edisons and the tops of Victors.

Jerry B.
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Re: Home Model B follow-the-restoration.

Post by Jerry B. »

I look forward to seeing progress. Modern decals make a project like this possible to high standards.

Jerry B.

VanEpsFan1914
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Re: Home Model B follow-the-restoration.

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

Thanks Mr Blais--

I've got high hopes for it. David Zavracky explained the planetary gearbox so I was able to knock that down & get inside. What's the point of having one's own dining-room table if you can't put phonograph parts on it?

The project should be done a long ways out--stripping the case is going poorly & I am convinced I need a better chemical stripper than just alcohol. But here it is so far. Bedplate has good paint on it--I'll be touching up worn parts but otherwise it's fine.
Attachments
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dzavracky
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Re: Home Model B follow-the-restoration.

Post by dzavracky »

Looking good Charles ;)

Keep up to good work!

Cheers,

David

VanEpsFan1914
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Re: Home Model B follow-the-restoration.

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

Finish prep time!

The base board is off because it's in horrible shape--still have to glue it. Then I can go about getting it stripped and sanded.
Attachments
Filled and drying, awaiting stain and finish coats...and the baseboard.
Filled and drying, awaiting stain and finish coats...and the baseboard.
Filler: looks rough, but it's not as bad as it looks.
Filler: looks rough, but it's not as bad as it looks.
First sealing coat of very thinned shellac.
First sealing coat of very thinned shellac.
Sanding the case parts
Sanding the case parts

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dzavracky
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Re: Home Model B follow-the-restoration.

Post by dzavracky »

Looking good! Make sure you sand the case evenly after the filler. You don’t want the case to have random dark spots.

David

gramophoneshane
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Re: Home Model B follow-the-restoration.

Post by gramophoneshane »

VanEpsFan1914 wrote: I am convinced I need a better chemical stripper than just alcohol.
Probably a silly question, but are you using the right alcohol?

You need to use Ethanol Alcohol, and not Isopropyl Alcohol.
I only ask because I've seen people multiple times using the wrong stuff, especially when mixing or diluting shellac.

The bedplate looks fantastic btw.
I must say though, I think this is the first time I've seen someone sanding a phonograph wearing a tie.
About as classy that I get is board shorts and singlet lol.

VanEpsFan1914
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Re: Home Model B follow-the-restoration.

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

@Shane-- I do think I used the right alcohol; it was denatured. Still just a lot of work. As for why do I sand phonographs with a tie on, I'm usually too lazy to change and have just gotten very good at not splashing phonogrime everywhere. Before I figured that out I washed a lot of collars and cuffs :lol: Board shorts & a singlet (sounds like what Americans would call drawers & a T-shirt) is far too nice for wearing on phonograph repairs; that's dress code to go to Wal-Mart!



Well I'm still scabbing this old thing together, after a particularly busy and less than pleasant week balancing college, work, and apartment living--specifically cooking; I love to cook food but come home too tired to eat it.

But still not too busy to tinker with a phonograph off and on, though! I got the first two coats of shellac onto the cabinet, mended the crack in the baseboard (which I haven't filled and finished yet) and tried sanding some of the lid, which is a lot more work than it looks like.

Unfortunately some of the plating is ruined on some of the parts. I know some local plating companies and perhaps they can help.

So here's the Edison Home B at present in pictures.

What's missing:

Model C reproducer
Model H reproducer
Drive belt
Drive belt pulley, billet aluminum
Governor drive gear
Governor weights, screws, and leaf springs
Mainspring barrel
Mainspring
Winding crank
Rubber feet
EDISON HOME PHONOGRAPH banner transfer
Bedplate trademark decal
Supplies to paint pinstripes
Black paint
Motor shock mount (just one)

...and some kind of a horn.
I could go for a standard 14" witch hat, and space in my tiny apartment is limited. But I may yet put a proper horn on it--which means a crane, and notching the case so I can put the bracket for a replica on. (My budget doesn't permit an original clip-on crane.)

I shouldn't have bought it but am glad I did. Watching it go from scaly old wreck to a restored piece is kind of a reminder of why I like to fix phonographs in the first place. It will be a keeper when it's ready to go again, probably.
Attachments
Here we go again. I still need to put the bottom on, and sand the lid. It's coming together though.
Here we go again. I still need to put the bottom on, and sand the lid. It's coming together though.

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Django
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Re: Home Model B follow-the-restoration.

Post by Django »

Finding a treasure and bringing it back to life is very rewarding. The work gives you the bond. Enjoy the journey and keep the progress posts coming.

VanEpsFan1914
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Re: Home Model B follow-the-restoration.

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

Django, you're right--the work does give you the bond with the machine. You know every nut & bolt of it, every pore of the wood--and you know that years down the road someone may look at it and think, "What an interesting device--It's like a window to the past. Someone had foresight to preserve it and the skills to get it running."

Here are some pictures. The baseboard was cracked & coming apart, and a little glue fixed that. I sealed it with shellac, filled and sanded it, stained it, and need to do the shellac coats on it. Same goes for the lid. Finally finished sanding it. The filler on the top is where a piece chipped when I removed the handle, because I'm a klutz and old wood gets very fragile. It's not my restoration unless I tear something up by mistake.

Love working on the "hopeless cases." Once I FINALLY get back in touch with some of the members about motor parts I believe it won't be too long before I can at least try getting the motor to run. There's just not much of the motor left, honestly--frame, some gears, some shafts, a warped pulley.

And of course it needs a pair of reproducers, and a bunch of tiny pieces still, but there's something left and I think I will have a phonograph before it's all said & done.

DSC01087.JPG
Here's where we started this stage of the project. Shiny, but not right.

Still lacking some finish--and I really need to rub out the gloss in what is on there before adding more coats of thinned shellac--but it's a start. There's nothing on the lid but stain and filler right now. I have some very high hopes for this restoration and hope to be able to get some new Vulcan or Edisonia cylinders for its maiden voyage--one day I'd like to afford the complete 2008 Lord Leicester Hotel sessions as well as their Matt Tolentino records.

And yes I know--the phone on the desk doesn't have a cord on it. It's trashed too. It is a Kellogg stick that someone converted to be a lamp, and I torched off the lamp parts (saving the vintage socket) and will be filling the hole in the perch with sheet brass & solder, painting it, and adding some wires so it can be an extension on my VoIP line here. Still got to convert my old rotary phone from pulse to tone dialing when I can afford the module. Oh well! Parts is parts.

So here are some Edison pictures and at least now it is shaped like a phonograph again.
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