The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Brute force shouldn't be necessary.

My brother made me a tool to remove spring covers--it's a stout piece of copper that bends 90 degrees at the end, with a handle. You hook it into the cover and pop it right off.

These are antiques, not brake drums on a secondhand car--let's not bash things around. I don't care to find machines where someone else had marred it all up trying to work on it--it's too annoying trying to repair what Bubba the shade tree mechanic "fixed."

These press fitted barrel lids can be quite tight fitting and require reasonable force from something strong to lever the lid so as to pop off.

Some Thorens barrels don't have a cut out on their lid, and you need to insert a wood dowel through the bottom on an angle, then strike the dowel with a hammer or on a bench so the lid will come off.
Doing these I always think the spring might fly out too, but it never has.

I tried to get the top off but it won't move. (A few knocks with a small hammer on the small screwdriver wouldn't either.

So trying soaking it in wd40 for a few days ...........

Thanks for all your great advice and interesting observations / comments everyone !

poodling around wrote:I tried to get the top off but it won't move. (A few knocks with a small hammer on the small screwdriver wouldn't either.

So trying soaking it in wd40 for a few days ...........

Thanks for all your great advice and interesting observations / comments everyone !

WD-40 isn't going to do anything. It can't make tight things loose...

Get a screwdriver, (or any stout piece of metal), as big as will fit in that slot and pry it off. A "small screwdriver" isn't going to get it.

JerryVan wrote:

poodling around wrote:I tried to get the top off but it won't move. (A few knocks with a small hammer on the small screwdriver wouldn't either.

So trying soaking it in wd40 for a few days ...........

Thanks for all your great advice and interesting observations / comments everyone !

WD-40 isn't going to do anything. It can't make tight things loose...

Get a screwdriver, (or any stout piece of metal), as big as will fit in that slot and pry it off. A "small screwdriver" isn't going to get it.

These are often difficult to open so get a screwdriver and a big hammer to remove it , put the screwdriver in the gap and whack it downwards with the hammer , it trashes the screwdriver but removes the plate , TRUST ME ! I have done dozens these in the past

And, don't worry if you decide to do the spring removal yourself, I know my warning was somewhat over the top. I always figure that it's better to be safe than sorry... I have done a number of them myself, with absolutely no problem. Just be aware of the potential for injury and you will be fine. The springs in that machine are not that strong. Some Edison springs and music box springs are thick and strong, which makes them more dangerous. The two in my Meisselbach motor are 2 ¼" wide and thick, so not very pliable.

One thing that needs to be mentioned, is that when and if you replace a spring, it's extremely important to wind it back in the can in the same direction that it was originally oriented. It's a good idea to scratch an arrow on the lid or side of the spring barrel indicating the direction that it is originally wound... Also, take a picture to be certain... Once you remove the spring, it can be wound back into the can in two different directions... one of which won't work.

Curt A wrote:
One thing that needs to be mentioned, is that when and if you replace a spring, it's extremely important to wind it back in the can in the same direction that it was originally oriented. It's a good idea to scratch an arrow on the lid or side of the spring barrel indicating the direction that it is originally wound... Also, take a picture to be certain... Once you remove the spring, it can be wound back into the can in two different directions... one of which won't work.

excellent advice and also note where any washers come from and make sure you replace them in the same place