Follow the restoration of Amberola 1-A, serial #2

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Shane
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Re: Follow the restoration of Amberola 1-A, serial #2

Post by Shane »

You know, I've seen some bad looking un-restored wood finishes before, but this one takes the cake. What are all those dots all over the finish? Mold? Small fragments of remaining shellac?

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phonogfp
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Re: Follow the restoration of Amberola 1-A, serial #2

Post by phonogfp »

Just islands of shellac. The cabinet was clearly exposed to high heat (like an attic) and the finish just "boiled & bubbled." The temperature extremes were wide enough and rapid enough to flake most all of the paint from the mechanism. Wyatt has his work cut out for him!

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MicaMonster
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Re: Follow the restoration of Amberola 1-A, serial #2

Post by MicaMonster »

Valecnik wrote:You have some very interesting pictures on your site Wyatt. You also note there that the reproducer has a longer top tube which reaches into the horn elbow and it will ONLY work on THIS machine. Does it follow then that any other "regular" M or L will not work with this machine? It would be too short?

Also it appears that the horn elbow is a gold wash?
I will be trying a Type M on the machine shortly (one is being sent to me for evaluation). Yes, the fish-tail L is specific for this application. The horn elbow IS gold plated as well. I will be stripping all the dirty lacquer off of it, and will brighten it up gently.

I would like to propose we all vote if I should save the original lid decal or not. I have been losing sleep over this. I will provide Mordeth with pics, and I'll let you folks decide!

W
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MicaMonster
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Re: Follow the restoration of Amberola 1-A, serial #2

Post by MicaMonster »

For those that have been following the progress, the decal will be SAVED. I've hired a talented artist to fill in the missing colors. This evening I'll be stripping the horn elbow, and doing some final adjustments to horn before grain painting begins.
-Antique Phonograph Reproducer Restorer-
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Valecnik
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Re: Follow the restoration of Amberola 1-A, serial #2

Post by Valecnik »

Wyatt, It was the right move to save the decal. I could not access your site today to check progress. You'd better check that!

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Re: Follow the restoration of Amberola 1-A, serial #2

Post by Schmaltz »

Valecnik wrote:Wyatt, It was the right move to save the decal. I could not access your site today to check progress. You'd better check that!
Ditto here, at least for a while: the site would start to load and then hang. As of now, though, the page is back up and I can see all the work. What a great project, in both senses of the word!
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Re: Follow the restoration of Amberola 1-A, serial #2

Post by gramophoneshane »

I came across this on the net earlier, & thought I'd add it seeing as it's relevant to this particular machine.

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Re: Follow the restoration of Amberola 1-A, serial #2

Post by Lenoirstreetguy »

Interesting indeed, I want to know more about Peter Weber the " inventor" in this case. He was obviously a stalwart of the phonograph division at the Edison enterprise. I just read his name in Frow's book as the designer of the machine. I've been looking at pics in the various Edison histories but I've never been able to match a face with the name.

Jim

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Re: Follow the restoration of Amberola 1-A, serial #2

Post by JohnM »

In 1993 I published a book entitled 'American Phonograph Design Patents 1897-1916' that pictures that patent as well as a number of other Peter Weber patents. His patents were all assigned to Edison, so he may not have been on staff.

The book was limited to 100 copies and it sold out almost immediately (I sold 40 copies at the 1993 CAPS show alone). I intend to make it available as a download at some point, but with well over 300 pages it's a bit of a project and my time is rather limited. All patents are cross referenced and indexed and identified. The woven wicker phonograph in my avatar is from that book.
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Valecnik
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Re: Follow the restoration of Amberola 1-A, serial #2

Post by Valecnik »

JohnM wrote:In 1993 I published a book entitled 'American Phonograph Design Patents 1897-1916' that pictures that patent as well as a number of other Peter Weber patents. His patents were all assigned to Edison, so he may not have been on staff.

The book was limited to 100 copies and it sold out almost immediately (I sold 40 copies at the 1993 CAPS show alone). I intend to make it available as a download at some point, but with well over 300 pages it's a bit of a project and my time is rather limited. All patents are cross referenced and indexed and identified. The woven wicker phonograph in my avatar is from that book.
Interesting book by the way. I have a copy and refer to it from time to time but never realized you were the publisher, (even though now I see your name on the front). :monkey:

A VERY belated thanks for making it available!

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