What is This?

[CDBPDX]

It's not a coin slot. More likely it was for a slide lever; perhaps the builder changed his mind or never finished his planned use.

Slide lever sounds right... thank you, that had not occurred to me. How were slide levers used with phonographs?

Slide levers are also on just about every phonograph cabinet where the bracket for the lid slides into the motor board.

That being said, I didn't see anything inside the cabinet that would need a slide lever OR evidence of a coin mechanism.

I was the 2nd highest bidder, thought I had it right up to the end of the auction. I really wanted to tinker with it and see what it could do. Just didn't have the funds at that time to bid any more.

[WindupArtist]

Possibly a Chrismas Tree stand, or driver for a rotating store display?

Thanks for your reply, US Phono! Hmmmmm, display: Maybe I could find a 12-14" doll from about the same period. Disassemble it, adding articulation, put the clothes back on then setting it to work on the top of the box, driven by gears coming off the spindle. Even designing and building a coin mechanism could be fun!

(For any purists who might be reading this, note that I have never damaged a phonograph to get a motor, nor do I modify the motors themselves. Not only are these wonderful antiques not disrespected, they are brought up into the light to be appreciated as the works of art that they are! And, whatever I do with this piece, I will leave it in its box and will help realize its potential, not diminish it... anyone who encounters it later will be free to remove my work and return it to the state in which it came to me.)

[CDBPDX]

Can hardly wait to see what you come up with!

[WindupArtist]

It's not a coin slot. More likely it was for a slide lever; perhaps the builder changed his mind or never finished his planned use.

Slide lever sounds right... thank you, that had not occurred to me. How were slide levers used with phonographs?

Slide levers are also on just about every phonograph cabinet where the bracket for the lid slides into the motor board.

That being said, I didn't see anything inside the cabinet that would need a slide lever OR evidence of a coin mechanism.

I was the 2nd highest bidder, thought I had it right up to the end of the auction. I really wanted to tinker with it and see what it could do. Just didn't have the funds at that time to bid any more.

Hey Cliff... If I had known that you were the other bidder I would have backed off or not bid at all!

It was just my sickness for mechanical curiosities that kept me going. If you still want it, you can have it for what I paid, plus the shipping cost to you. I really have enough to do without this detour! Anything I would do would be outside of the style of my work since my motors always show. I could sit around in my shop for years... I'll send you an email.

[CDBPDX]

I am now the very happy owner of this motor! Thanks, Russell!

Here is a video of the machine running:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkiGp7_gtZ4

Every component of the Edison Fireside and Standard cylinder phonograph motors is present (except the belt pulley), but on steroids. It is exquisitely crafted, certainly not a mass produced item. I am convinced it is a prototype disc phonograph motor based on the design of the then current cylinder phonograph motors, though I could be wrong.

I sent a note to the folks at the Edison Museum at Menlo Park for their opinion. Can't wait to see what they have to say!

[WindupArtist]

I am now the very happy owner of this motor! Thanks, Russell!

Here is a video of the machine running:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkiGp7_gtZ4

Every component of the Edison Fireside and Standard cylinder phonograph motors is present (except the belt pulley), but on steroids. It is exquisitely crafted, certainly not a mass produced item. I am convinced it is a prototype disc phonograph motor based on the design of the then current cylinder phonograph motors, though I could be wrong.

I sent a note to the folks at the Edison Museum at Menlo Park for their opinion. Can't wait to see what they have to say!

I am so glad you ended up with this motor Cliff, even though I was completely tempted to just keep it around forever, just to look at now and then! But as my wife remarked, "we encounter all sorts of beautiful things in life that we cannot own." I could have owned it, but it would not have been in the interest of the motor for me to keep it, and I deferred to a greater good. You are in a position to see that this exquisite piece find its place in phonograph history. I am off to the side of the vintage phonograph world, incorporating orphaned surplus motors into mechanical art. To remove this motor from its box and deny it an opportunity to realize its potential after all these years ran contrary to my core values. I too look forward to what the folks at Menlo Park have to say!!

The way the motor got from me to you via Ebay and this Forum gives me pause... a nice chapter in our relationship which had hit a pothole a couple of years back... Russell