Shaver attachment for Edison Standard A...?

[alang]

I have an Edison Standard A 1903 green oak banner case version. It has the screw for the shaver attachment, but is missing the shaver itself. From time to time these shaver attachments are offered on eBay, but most of the time with missing cutter. Since the pictures on eBay are mostly small and not clear enough I have a hard time envisioning what such a cutter would look like, how it would actually work and if it could be replaced (and with what?). Can anyone on the forum explain this and maybe show a few close up photos? Does anyone sell cutter replacements or fully functioning shaver attachments?
Thanks
Andreas

[Lucius1958]

Well, I don't have any good photos, but the blade itself is a tiny piece of sapphire with a chisel edge. I've had one made for my Home at a local gem shop, which works pretty well.

Bill

[martinola]

Hi Andreas.

The Standard shaver, as you probably have already observed, looks rather like an old fashioned tin match case with a small "punched-in" bit on the front. The cutter itself is pretty tiny, maybe an ⅛" wide. I haven't heard of anybody making them as repros. It was glued (with shellac, I think) to the bottom of the "punched-in" bit so that the sharp edge sticks ever so slightly beyond the body. There's one on ebay now that has the cutter (not shown and needs regluing.)

While it's cool to have these to complete a machine, as a functioning device these shavers leave much to be desired. I found mine to be utterly useless - except for accidentally gouging a nice indestructible cylinder once. A Triumph or a purpose-built shaving machine would be the better choice for actual shaving of cylinders. I'm sure we have some fairly experienced cylinder shavers out there that could chime in here. (I know I could use some pointers on using my ediphone shaver.)

Regards,
Martin

[alang]

Hi Martin,
thanks for the response. I understand that the Standard wasn't the best choice for shaving cylinders, that's why Edison abandoned the shaving attachment pretty soon after my model was made. I don't envision myself doing lots of recording and shaving, that's why I thought it might do for me - aside from completing my machine.
I still have a hard time understanding why it was created in this tin box shape? Wouldn't just adding a sharp edge to the tip of the adjustment screw have done the same job much easier and less bulky? Or was the tin box supposed to catch the shavings somehow? Again, if anyone has a picture of the cutter and maybe the shaver in action it would maybe help me understand.
Thanks again
Andreas

[martinola]

Hi Andreas.

I wish I had a better photo of my shaver, but I'm about 1800 miles away from my machines just now. The photo below is of my 4 Clip Standard A's reproducer with the shaver just to the rear. (Hopefully somebody will have a better detail shot to post.)

4_clip_A_rep_shvr.jpg (210.14 KiB) Viewed 1523 times

Believe it or not, I think the shaving swarf was supposed to pass just above the cutter through the little punched-in bit, landing in the completely enclosed tin housing. When I got my shaving attachment for my Standard A, there was very old swarf already in it. After using it a bit, I discovered that quite a bit of new swarf had actually landed inside.

Perhaps the all-enclosed design was as a result of the Standard having the feedscrew so close to the rear of the machine (as opposed to the feedscrew being part of the the mandrel shaft on the far left.) There might have been fears that the feedscrew would get fouled with the swarf, leading to a not-really-successful attempt at completely containing the shavings. It looks like it was designed to be emptied with its removable top.

In trying to use it for shaving, I spent about an hour trying to get it to remove the tiniest amount without stalling. I finally ended up hand-holding a single-edged razor blade and got a much better, shiny surface. It still took about an hour to do one cylinder, so I can hardly call it a good method. Anyway, good luck on your quest.

Regards,
Martin

[alang]

Thanks Martin. It's starting to make sense...
Andreas