Edison Standard E

[AmberolaAndy]

It looks like the seller left it attached when it was shipped and was probably damaged from turning the package upside down.

It is always a good idea to send shipping instructions to a seller and get them to agree to your packing preferences BEFORE sending any payment. Packing per my instructions will obviously increase your shipping costs, but prevent possible damage and the headaches associated with trying to settle a shipping claim.

Granted, if you pay by PayPal you can get reimbursed for damaged goods or from the shipping company, BUT you may never be able to salvage the historic machine. So, it's better to be pro-active, since most sellers have no clue how to ship fragile items, especially phonographs. I wrote up a set of shipping instructions for sellers that I send whenever I win anything valuable or fragile. Feel free to copy and save this for future use...

SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS TO SELLERS:
(1) Remove crank from machine and wrap it separately.
(2) Remove reproducer from machine and wrap it separately in bubble wrap.
(3) Remove motor and upper works from cabinet. Wrap the entire mechanism in plastic wrap to keep anything from moving or shifting... Then wrap the entire mechanism in bubble wrap and place it in an oversize box with plenty of room around it for packing - peanuts, newspaper etc., several inches of packing below the motor, sides and top. Make sure it's packed tight and then seal the box - DO NOT PACK ANYTHING ELSE IN WITH IT!!! Label it FRAGILE - BOX 1 of 3 - THIS END UP
(4) Take the crank and reproducer which are already wrapped and place them in the case BOTTOM, then fill the case inside with packing material and place it in a SEPARATE oversize box with packing below, on the sides and on top... Make sure enough packing is in place to keep the case from moving in the box. Then seal the box and label it FRAGILE - BOX 2 of 3 - THIS END UP
(5) Fill the case LID with packing material and place it in a SEPARATE oversize box with packing below, on the sides and on top... Make sure enough packing is in place to keep the case lid from moving in the box. Then seal the box and label it FRAGILE - BOX 3 of 3 - THIS END UP

Thanks. I’ll will remember this post the next time I buy a machine from eBay.
I’m not too upset since I was able to glue the pieces back together. Thankfully I was lucky it was only Two states away in Illinois! I can’t imagine how badly smashed it would have been if it was coming from Florida or something like that.

[Dave D]

Remove the set screw holding the pot metal bushing an place and put a few drops of Muriatic Acid down the hole some evening. By the next morning enough of the old bushing should have been dissolved so that the mandrel shaft may be easily withdrawn.

I have read this tip several times here. I am working on a Triumph and have been putting a few drops of muratic acid on for 4 days now, several times per day. The mandrel still wont budge. What am I doing wrong? I have the works tipped on its side so I can drip the acid directly into the bearing.

Dave D

[VanEpsFan1914]

I didn't have the bearing entirely locked up on mine. It was only frozen to the point where Incredible Hulk grips were needed to turn the mandrel over

Using penetrating oil and patience I got the mandrel to turn a little, then tapped out the shaft with a brass drift and a rubber mallet.

Chipping the bearing out with old "ignition files" and a small screwdriver was a cakewalk.

[AmberolaAndy]

I didn't have the bearing entirely locked up on mine. It was only frozen to the point where Incredible Hulk grips were needed to turn the mandrel over

Using penetrating oil and patience I got the mandrel to turn a little, then tapped out the shaft with a brass drift and a rubber mallet.

Chipping the bearing out with old "ignition files" and a small screwdriver was a cakewalk.

I may try PB Blaster first. BTW does PB Blaster ruin paint?

[Lucius1958]

I didn't have the bearing entirely locked up on mine. It was only frozen to the point where Incredible Hulk grips were needed to turn the mandrel over

Using penetrating oil and patience I got the mandrel to turn a little, then tapped out the shaft with a brass drift and a rubber mallet.

Chipping the bearing out with old "ignition files" and a small screwdriver was a cakewalk.

I may try PB Blaster first. BTW does PB Blaster ruin paint?

Ive been dousing the top works of my Triumph with it, and it hasn't affected the paint...

Sadly, it hasn't affected the parts I'm trying to free, either.

Bill

[AmberolaAndy]

Where can I purchase the bearing? I don’t see any on eBay.

[VanEpsFan1914]

Andy,

You will need to phone Ron Sitko when he re-opens shop and order one of his brass bearings, they are very cheap and very functional.

To get the reproducer out of the carriage, I saw you had mentioned putting it in the freezer. They say that works. I took a can of canned air (the kind people snort to get stoned) and turned it upside down so it would spray out freezing gas. Shooting the reproducer carriage arm (after removing the carriage arm from the topworks, of course) caused the whole thing to freeze solid--Jack Frost appears to have upchucked on it.

So my brother and I opened up the jaws of the vise and lined them with an old cloth to catch the reproducer and procured a piece of "Fat Light'd" wood. Fat lighter is a particularly dense piece of pine knot, almost crystalline with resin--the geode of the Southern pine forest.

We used it as a drift to gently thump the reproducer out of the carriage. Like loosening bolts on an auto wheel, we tapped first one side and then the other. When the reproducer thawed we re-sprayed it with the freezing gas from the can.

Out it came!

(Unfortunately I had to smash the reproducer shell with a hammer to extract the retaining ring, diaphragm, hinge block, tailweight, link, and stylus bar. It had succumbed to potmetal decay. I installed its original guts into a modern brass top...still, wish I could have used an original.)


You'll get it working. Don't spray your fingertips with the gas from the canned air duster. You will have instant frostbite.

[phonogfp]

Where can I purchase the bearing? I don’t see any on eBay.

Believe it or not, eBay is not the best source for antique phonograph parts. There's a "Links" section to this forum, under which you will find a tab titled, "Repairs, Parts, Dealers, Sales & Auctions." There, you'll find a number of qualified people who can help you...unlike many of the sellers on eBay.

As VanEpsFan has suggested, Ron Sitko is an outstanding supplier of new parts (at prices considerably lower than many eBay listings). He is closed until Wednesday Jan. 2nd, but it will be worth the wait.

Ron Sitko
56 Church Hill Road.
Waterford NY 12188
Telephone (518) 371-8549 (NOTE: Closed until Jan. 2, 2019)
Hours: 7PM-10PM EST

George P.

[martinola]

George Vollema can probably help you out:

http://www.victroladoctor.com/

Nice machine, Andy. Can you post a picture of your patent plate?

Regards,
Martin

[AmberolaAndy]

George Vollema can probably help you out:

http://www.victroladoctor.com/

Nice machine, Andy. Can you post a picture of your patent plate?

Regards,
Martin

Sure!