Columbia Eagle governor weight spring…replace it?

[AmberolaAndy]

Sadly this project will have to be put on hold even longer! Today reminded me why I HATE dealing with leather belts!!!! I ALWAYS make them too long and then make them too short until I wasted the money on belt material! I might as well had taken that $10 and flushed it down the toilet! I even attempted to put together the parts of that belting material and maybe I could even get a functioning belt but they turned out to be wow and flutter city!!! And to top it off I lost one of the screws that goes to the belt cover! Needless to say as something as making a belt has turned completely topsy turvy! The lesson is NEVER BE CHEAP ON BELTING MATERIAL!! If you screw up as badly as I do, buy MANY feet of belting material! Sorry I’m just really frustrated right now and I’m typing this out of emotion and anger and I'm trying my best not to use explicit language I used today, but this is why I hate leather belts and go the o-ring path!!
In my 9 years of collecting I’ve probably wasted a good $40+ on belting material that I’ve screwed up on because I end up cutting it too short after I cut it too long it happens EVERY time!!!

[AmberolaAndy]

Well guys a couple hours later and a trip to Ace hardware. I *think* I got this 128 year old machine up and running!

I played a record and I noticed the thing was also tracking much better! It played and didn’t skip a groove once so I think I possibly solved that issue with…yep! A O-ring!! A $1 O-ring. And I guess replacing that govenor spring too was a big help also!

I will post a video of it playing later!

Apologies for the mood whiplash between posts!

[Inigo]

Sometimes it is needed... not to be too *original* when restoring machines that you want to use frequently.
My now daily workhorse machine is a tabletop HMV 127, of the early UK orthophonic type, exponential horn and narrow bore tonearm, on which I substitute the original mica soundbox HMV no4 for a later orthophonic no 5b. It is not the original, but sounds much better, clearer and more pleasant to my ears, despite the fact that this soundbox is designed for the fat tonearm. But the sound system supports it well and the sound is more natural than the original
I've done dozens of comparisons..., indeed I'm always switching between both soundboxes to try with different records, and ALWAYS I arrive to the 5b as being the best sounding one. Not original, but a practical way to use the machine to a great satisfactory sound!
So I secretly support your desperate decision in favour of the o-ring...

[AmberolaAndy]

here's the video! Yeah there is a minor wow, but I think that's a characteristic of Columbia machines of this vintage.

[YouTube]www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fOM3BXPQ3M[/YouTube]