FOLLOW THE RESTORATION: mahogany cabinet Edison Home

[FloridaClay]

Wyatt, thanks for posting this. I will follow it with interest, as I always learn from your projects--not that I will ever be even ¼ as good.

Clay

[ambrola]

Wasn't Ted an older gentleman who made replacement lids in oak as well? If so, I don't recall his craftsmanship as being anything that would fool anyone.

No one could ever FOOL YOU, and I repeat NEVER, but to those of us of mere talents/abilities that do not compare to yours and have seen and owned one (myself being a "poor soul" that he kindly gifted one to) appreciate his craftsmanship!! Gerard

I saw Ted right before he passed away. I bought all his parts and parts machines. He was one in a million. His later cabinets could pass for the real ones. Heres one I bought from him just before he passed away.

[MicaMonster]

Trimming back the "new" wood on the corner, using a tracing to get the right curve.



And after adding some color and finish. I used a light application of Golden Oak, then added a tiny bit of Blood Red to tint. For the new bedplate frame, I will be making a custom color, as the frame will be made from new mahogany instead, for added strength.

[JohnM]

Wasn't Ted an older gentleman who made replacement lids in oak as well? If so, I don't recall his craftsmanship as being anything that would fool anyone.

No one could ever FOOL YOU, and I repeat NEVER, but to those of us of mere talents/abilities that do not compare to yours and have seen and owned one (myself being a "poor soul" that he kindly gifted one to) appreciate his craftsmanship!! Gerard

I am astounded by the hatefulness on this board. The Edison lids that I saw in Mooresville a few years ago were splitting at the glue lines and looked amateurish at best. Were those the lids made by Ted? Maybe they weren't? Glad you were given a lid. May we see some photos of it?

[MicaMonster]

Work continues. I found a super nice mechanism to install, but it has a busted 2nd pinion gear. This is a common repair to the Edison Home machines. The gears usually crack, then split while you are playing the phonograph, accompanied by a "BOOM.....wRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.....click click" sound.


Shaft lacking pinion gear.

Replacement gear, with setscrew. After test-fitting the gear, I will grind a flat spot in the shaft for the set screw to bite into.


This is a high stress gear. As a safeguard, I like to also silver solder these into position.

This is also a great time to open up the spring barrel and apply some fresh graphite grease.

The running motor:

Here is a detail of the top of the bedplate. Most of the gold decorations still show nicely. This will clean up super nice.

[ambrola]

That bedplate looks great as well as the rest of it. Good job.

[MicaMonster]

Using an original oak frame as a model, I present to you the finished mahogany motor frame. 100% indistinguishable from an original! Next, figuring out how to stain this so the right amount of brown/red show through the finish.

[phonolady]

Wyatt,
This is fabulous work, indeed you can't tell from original.
David & Lerria

[edisonplayer]

Sunday at a local flea market in my town I bought an Edison Home model B case for the amazing price of (get this)$10!!The lid and cabinet were there,of course,but there was no frame for the mechanism.This was oak.I've never seen a mahogany.edisonplayer

[MicaMonster]

Today, I fitted the hinges, a headache of a job because everything has to be in alignment, "just so." Otherwise the lid tabs won't align with the striker plates, and seat properly.



Fitting mechanism, so that crank aligns properly in crank hole.



I used a combination of golden oak stain, mixed with a little blood red and medium brown mahogany to get the wood toned. This is a bit difficult because the cabinet has areas which are more brown than red, from UV exposure. Finding a happy medium.....




Cleaning up the upper mechanism.....check out those gold lines!



Installation of new leather belt, and here we are!