Beltona portable

[JerryVan]

More than welcome. You’ve given me a renewed interest in sorting mine out too.

I was thinking of installing a rod through the original hole, then using a couple of bearings to give the side to side flexibility. The existing hinge I think is original and should allow the vertical movement ok.


Lee

Total speculation based on your pictures, I would guess that the hinge is held to the board with a simple wood screw, with there being only a washer between the hinge and the motor board. The motor board surface, and the hinge, both show signs of such a washer having been in contact with them. (Also possible that the "washer" may have had some additional height/thickness, making it more of a "spacer". I just depends on whether the underside of the horn clears the turntable when a reproducer is present.)

[leels1]

Just had a look- it’s an actual Beltona branded motor, but looks like it may have been made by Thorens.

[leels1]

More than welcome. You’ve given me a renewed interest in sorting mine out too.

I was thinking of installing a rod through the original hole, then using a couple of bearings to give the side to side flexibility. The existing hinge I think is original and should allow the vertical movement ok.


Lee

Total speculation based on your pictures, I would guess that the hinge is held to the board with a simple wood screw, with there being only a washer between the hinge and the motor board. The motor board surface, and the hinge, both show signs of such a washer having been in contact with them. (Also possible that the "washer" may have had some additional height/thickness, making it more of a "spacer". I just depends on whether the underside of the horn clears the turntable when a reproducer is present.)

I had a closer look. I think you're right, the hole for the mount doesn't go all the way through the motorboard so it must just have been a simple affair with a washer to give clearance for the turntable.

The holes to the top left of the motorboard were probably caused by needles in the original setup of the horn/ tone arm, everything all seems to line up.

Simple but looks like it’d be pretty effective.

[Oedipus]

This is an 'Improved Ever Ready' model, introduced by Murdochs in September 1915. Wartime supply problems no doubt prompted the wood substitute for a tone-arm! The record tray is often missing; sometimes it sits on top of the ledges at each side, sometimes there is a groove in the sides for projecting 'tongues' on the tray.

The 'horn' is not removable; it pivots on a fixed stud that passes through a hole in the bottom of the horn and a slot in the top, so that, when the sound box is in position on a record, the top of the horn is stabilised by the stud, but still free to move vertically. On mine, the stud is a nail; whether it is original I cannot be sure, but it does the job perfectly - there are two washers under the horn. I have taken a photo, which was difficult, but I hope will show what I am talking about. To fit the nail, or remove it, it would be necessary to unscrew the bottom of the case.

The machine was made in two sizes, the larger one accommodating 12-inch records in the tray. The sound box on mine has no name at all -- it may be original, as, again, in 1915, supplies were whatever you could get hold of on the day. But a Beltona Tournaphone with mica diaphragm would be appropriate.

[langleycello]

Fantastic info here - much appreciated…just a moment before I zip off to work..the motor is exactly the same - Beltona

[leels1]

I am too appreciate the comments. I hope @langleycello I’m not hijacking your thread here but it’s great to find out about a machine I thought was home made!

Just serviced the motor and put it back together but I think it’s been played to death, the pivots where the gear sit have been worn away and there’s so much play. I’m thinking I may need to put bushes there to make it good again.

[Oedipus]

Thinking again about it, I realised it would not be necessary to remove the base of the cabinet to get at the horn mounting, because it is fitted on what is actually part of the motor board. So I took that out; the entire mechanism is mounted on the board, some 15 years before HMV adopted the same ideal for the 102!

The motor in mine is anonymously Swiss, but I can now see that the nail is original, and held in place by a small screw through its head (I feel like that sometimes, too). It is also clear that the pivoted hinge arrangement seen in an earlier post has never been fitted to this one -- but it is described in the blurb accompanying the announcement in September 1915. So, at some point the supply of hinges ran out, or perhaps they were found to be unsatisfactory, and the crude but effective 3 ½-inch round wire nail (often called French nails at the time) was adopted instead.

The internal block providing an extra bearing for the winding handle is unusual and serves little purpose given the normal metal escutcheon on the side of the cabinet.

[langleycello]

Absolutely intriguing! - many thanks for the close up of this and the ensuing explanation. Mine has a modest screw hole, but as the horn is missing and will need to be remade, I think I will follow through with the nail approach.

I will begin by simply making a 3D print of the horn as I have access to facilities at the school where I teach. in time I will endeavour to make a wooden horn.

Before doing so, I would be most interested to see how the metal flange (a which connected the soundbox) is secured on the right angle - is there a wooden collar, or a small tube recessed into the narrow end of the cone? How is it interfaced to the wooden surrounds? I actually have the metal part (see pic earlier with the ruined soundbox) but would be keen to grasp how it is secured for maximum strength.

Cheers,

Stephen