The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

For these business machines, I decided to make a model of a stable Edison business machine blank. I do not want to make many of these as they are very touchy to make, less come out than make it. Making them work on later Ediphones with the Ejectomatic system, is very difficult, but they do work, however will work best on the full mandrel, wood case spectacle business machine. It is just the internal diameter has to be so precise, to work with the later Ediphone ejection system, to make them in any number a special reaming machine would have to be built so I do not want orders for them. The nice thing is that the formula I use is a more stable formula than the Ediphone blank. Don't get me wrong the Ediphone blank, when it is used fresh, sounds excellent, and has a very good sound however. I know the formula (it seems to many collector doubt this as they think I am putting down the formula just for other reasons.) So here is its defects,and Why, Strike one, it uses, double pressed octadecanoic acid, although most original cylinders do, you can tell from the smell, that it is very raw in the Ediphone formula. octadecanoic pitch is in the Ediphone formula, contains much olaic acid, and the tempering agent is paraffin. From experience putting all these together in a blank spells trouble, the pitch has glycerin and olaic acid, the paraffin, it is not as good a ceresine, has more oil and rougher grain, while Ceresine is non granular. The aluminum content in Ediphone wax is .33% with double pressed octadecanoic, that is pretty low, to be durable should have been around .50%-.60%. These new blanks use ceresine NO sterine pitch and triple pressed Bovine (not Palm)octadecanoic acid.
, so they are much more stable for long term storage. But this was just an experiment I wanted to share, I will put a test up on youtube soon comparing the recording qualities of this blank, with that of the Ediphone.

Hi Shawn
well done they look great, cant wait to hear what they sound like. Gordon

Nice work Shawn!! That looks like a most
proper dictation blank! I have a question about
it: What is the outside diameter of it as
it came to its first good surface?

A NOS Ediphone blank still in the wax paper
is 2.384 inch diameter. I've measured several
and they are quite consistent.

Chuck

Chuck it was 2.30. That still leaves a lot of record play cycles.
I have put a demo video up on youtube. http://youtu.be/tw2ssSSXTqc It was just a test anyhow. They would be pretty expensive to produce in any number due to the strict internal dimeter to work on the later Ediphones.