The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

dzavracky wrote:Ill order the screw after i get the machine

Yes, wait until you get the machine, because you may need to re-tap the threads in the carriage tube, in which case the screw you receive won't work. There's a reason the trunion assembly broke in the first place, and it's quite possibly due to someone's having mounted a huge horn on the carriage, and under the weight of the horn, something had to give.

-- Grant

Yes that’s very true!!

I am first going to take apart the motor, and clean and re-grease it. Is there a particular kind of grease that’s good for phonographs. I have been using some red grease my dad used on his tractor. I don’t know what it’s called. “VanEpsFan1914” used it when he helped me with my Edison standard, but I don’t know if there is a better kind?


Also I agreed on $100 for the phonograph and a nice vogue picture record!

NICE Vogue disc. Those are pretty.

They're kind of soft, though, so it might be good to stick to using an electrical turntable.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the new Columbia turns out.

Thanks! I’m going to record it as soon as I get Home with it

UPDATE:

I am going this saturday to get it! But this may be my best deal ever so far. I am getting a triumph cylinder record (and another cylinder but i do not know what kind), that vogue picutre record, and this Graphophone for only $75!!!

Im quite excited.

Also I know the reproducer needs to be rebuilt, but how does the condition of the needle look?

Be very careful with the diaphragm, the stepped mica sounds much better than the flat replacement micas made today, the new replacements are too thick to sound as good as the stepped originals. Usually, a layer of thinned shellac is coated on each side of the bottom gasket, and then the diaphragm put on top of that, and the top gasket done the same way. I like to use rubber cement though because it can easily be removed, it offers softer surfaces and increases volume and bass response. I attach the stylus bar to the center of the diaphragm with sealing wax, shellac and African wax-based cement. https://princetonsealingwax.com/ It is the oldest continuously operated business in our town. I use an alcohol lamp and dental tools to apply the wax to the center. Stratina, shellac or beeswax can also be used, but the sealing wax has worked really well for me, and for adhering the crossheads to glass diaphragms, and remounting recording still.

dzavracky wrote:UPDATE:

I am going this saturday to get it! But this may be my best deal ever so far. I am getting a triumph cylinder record (and another cylinder but i do not know what kind), that vogue picutre record, and this Graphophone for only $75!!!

Im quite excited.

Also I know the reproducer needs to be rebuilt, but how does the condition of the needle look?

Get a high powered magnifier, and examine the stylus carefully. If you see any flat spots or chips, you'll need to replace it.

- Bill

Okay thank you! I will be coming back to re-read this when it comes time to fix the reproducer

They're right about stepped mica sounding better than anything you can get today! They are incredibly fragile but will work if you are gentle.

I had a 1906 Columbia BK Graphophone which had a spring-loaded Lyric reproducer. It worked great when I took the original mica (which I was going to throw away as the eyelet had fallen out) and repaired it with the celluloid cone out of the Amberola 30 reproducer. The little phonograph went to New York when I sold it to a collector who described it as the best-sounding 2-minute machine he had ever owned in like 40 years of collecting. It's called diaphragm compliance, and your ears will thank you!

$75 for a Graphophone, a new record, and a Vogue disc isn't too bad! That is a wonderful deal, really, and I'd be tickled if I were you to make a deal like that.

dzavracky wrote:Yes that’s very true!!

I am first going to take apart the motor, and clean and re-grease it. Is there a particular kind of grease that’s good for phonographs. I have been using some red grease my dad used on his tractor. I don’t know what it’s called. “VanEpsFan1914” used it when he helped me with my Edison standard, but I don’t know if there is a better kind?


Also I agreed on $100 for the phonograph and a nice vogue picture record!

I'll tell you what I have been using with very satisfactory results... the red grease mixed with this:



About 25% red grease to 75% HyPerLube. Take a paint stirrer and do the Devo thing... whip it good. It'll make a flowable grease that won't leak out of the mechanism. No noise at all. Flows everywhere and clings. A couple full winds and full releases of the springs and then forget it. Good for lubing non fiber gears and other lube points as well. It should never harden up, either.