Instructions for rebuilding a Victrola Orthophonic soundbox

[MicaMonster]

Spent a few free moments writing this, in the hopes of helping those shade tree phonograph mechanics out there who want to try tackling their own Orthophonic repairs. Repairing these is relatively simple. Attaining the finesse, dexterity, and intuitive skills necessary to achieve such a feat comes with experience, patience, and more patience.

BEHOLD!

http://www.edisondiamonddisc.com/rebuil ... honic.html

As always, I welcome comments, praise, criticism, harsh criticism, and donations of beef jerky. Cheers!

[martinola]

Great job, Wyatt!

It's nice to have the information out there. It might make the difference between ruining or rebuilding an otherwise salvageable sound box.

-Martin

[alang]

Thanks for sharing this information. This might actually give me the confidence to try it sometime.
Andreas

[wjw]

Wyatt, this is a great tutorial on a favorite subject. Thanks for taking the time to put this together. I understand it's a work in progress and I would appreciate a "read" detailing re-soldering the bar to the diaphragm.
I'd like to add a precaution to the tear-down section. I recently unscrewed the back of a pot-metal Ortho and failed to notice that the cast "pin" at the bottom of the back plate was shearing from the start. This allowed the back plate to turn with the retaining ring and, well- I had to use a replacement diaphragm I'd bought from Ron Sitko (I'm glad these exist-they're excellent).
It's possible that more patient applications of lacquer thinner, then overnight with oil might have avoided this mistake. By the way, I carefully drilled a small pilot hole where the cast pin was and epoxied in a replacement which worked just fine.

[FloridaClay]

Thanks for putting together this treasur!

Clay

[need4art]

Hi Wyatt,
Thx for putting all the detail down on paper-now just add the pictures and video!
Just kidding and thx for doing a great job rebuilding my #2 reproducer I am way late telling you how much more I enjoy these records since I got it back.
Now if I can just convince my wife that you really need a new roof...
Abe

[MicaMonster]

Hi Wyatt,
Thx for putting all the detail down on paper-now just add the pictures and video!
Just kidding and thx for doing a great job rebuilding my #2 reproducer I am way late telling you how much more I enjoy these records since I got it back.
Now if I can just convince my wife that you really need a new roof...
Abe

Will it help if I post pictures of the water drip stains on the ceiling, and the pathetic plastic sheets which we have to put over our office desks to keep the computers safe?