The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Are the buttons wood or metal? Just curious.

Clay

The buttons are cast wood composition and it is possible that someone removed the finish in a previous cleaning - I've seen some of this material where the varnish flakes easily.

Hi:

I too just bought a Edison Machine model A100, it is in perfect shape, it even has the 78 attachment as well. I picked up 38 Diamond Disc records with it for $430 US altogether with it.

Russ

I too have a near perfect A-100 in tiger oak. Oak is my phonograph wood of choice when at all possible. I have two Victor VV-IX's, side by side, one in oak and one in mahogany. The oak looks SUPERIOR after a good cleaning and a paste bees-wax rubbing. The other is rather dull and bland looking, even after a good cleaning. I'm curious about these A-100 grilles though - the rosettes (or buttons) on my A-100 grille seem to have been painted gold at one time, which has mostly flaked off. I wonder what the finish is really supposed to be on those four "buttons" ?? I don't think the "old man" would have spent the extra $$$$$ to gold them do you? Gold gilding was it called?

Finally got the spring put into the A100 and put it back together.

CDB, your machine looks great! Sadly my B80 spring has failed, and it is not an available size this side of the Pond. Where did you get your spring from, and do you know if they might stock a B80 spring?

Thanks

Keith

Ron Sitko probably has your spring and his prices are quite reasonable. The only problem is that he is only available by phone or mail - no email or website. I don't have his info here at hand, but if no one else posts it, PM me and I'll get it to you.

Jim

I recently replaced the spring in my A-80, which is the same as in the B-80. I got the new spring from Ron Sitko. It is slightly thicker, but otherwise the same length etc. It runs easily through a regular 10" DD. You can find Ron Sitko's phone number in the Links section.
Good luck
Andreas

alang wrote:I recently replaced the spring in my A-80, which is the same as in the B-80. I got the new spring from Ron Sitko. It is slightly thicker, but otherwise the same length etc. It runs easily through a regular 10" DD. You can find Ron Sitko's phone number in the Links section.
Good luck
Andreas

Interesting: according to Frow, the spring for the B-80 was actually 1' shorter than that for the A-80, besides being thicker and having a different size hole…


Bill

Lucius1958 wrote:

alang wrote:I recently replaced the spring in my A-80, which is the same as in the B-80. I got the new spring from Ron Sitko. It is slightly thicker, but otherwise the same length etc. It runs easily through a regular 10" DD. You can find Ron Sitko's phone number in the Links section.
Good luck
Andreas

Interesting: according to Frow, the spring for the B-80 was actually 1' shorter than that for the A-80, besides being thicker and having a different size hole…


Bill

Ooohps, sorry, did my memory play a trick on me? I could have sworn that Frow lists A-80 and B-80 as the same size. I should have checked before posting. Thanks for the correction.

In any case, I got my spring from Ron Sitko and would always check with him first. He has the list of all Edison spring sizes and will tell you what you need for the B-80.

Sorry about the confusion.
Andreas

OK, looked it up in the Frow book. Bill is absolutely correct. The A-80 has the same spring as the A-60 and B-60, but the B-80 has the same spring as the C-60. Here are the sizes for reference:

A-80: 21 ft long 1 1/16 in wide 0.031 in thick 11/16 in center hole
B-80: 20 ft long 1 1/16 in wide 0.038 in thick 13/16 in center hole

Apologies for the confusion.
Andreas