The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Soaking in PB Blaster... looking much better!

I was wondering about what success you'd have with vinegar for rust removal, but what do I know...? The Blaster is obviously doing the job...and you can hopefully deal with the stink!

I hope you're planning to completely disassemble your Q to clean it. If you've never taken a phonograph apart, the Q is a great machine on which to learn. As long as you have decent (and correct-size) screwdrivers and can remember "righty-tighty/lefty-loosey" you'll be fine. A little 0000 steel wool will remove stubborn grime/light rust with no problem. Once reassembled, you won't recognize it.

Good luck!

George P.

Seeing this thread is peaking my interest. A couple of years ago, I picked up a large collection of mostly records, but there were some machines too, many of which I gave away. Among them was a nice little Q that is filthy (but early and complete). I've been thinking about tearing this one down and getting into it, I think this thread has given me some inspiration. After nearly 11 months of numb hands and resultant carpal tunnel surgery in September, I'm finally just beginning to be able to work on things again and this seems like it would be a perfect little project.

Good luck! And I agree with George, PB Blaster stinks, haha.

Sean

phonogfp wrote:I was wondering about what success you'd have with vinegar for rust removal, but what do I know...? The Blaster is obviously doing the job...and you can hopefully deal with the stink!

I hope you're planning to completely disassemble your Q to clean it. If you've never taken a phonograph apart, the Q is a great machine on which to learn. As long as you have decent (and correct-size) screwdrivers and can remember "righty-tighty/lefty-loosey" you'll be fine. A little 0000 steel wool will remove stubborn grime/light rust with no problem. Once reassembled, you won't recognize it.

Good luck!

George P.

Well here’s an update on the cleaning. I’m probably going to buy some steel wool tomorrow to get rid of the corrosion on the carriage rod. I had to adjust the Mandrel pulley because it was scraping against the Mandrel. (Is it supposed to be wobbly like that?) And now it runs a little better. I’m not confident yet on disassembing the machine but I’m probably going to replace the governor weights and springs eventually. Do I unscrew the post and does the governor just slide out or is there any bearings I need to be aware of? Anyway here’s some photos. Not %100 perfect, but better than it was.

Now I see your "6"!

fran604g wrote:Now I see your "6"!

Yup!

On these machines did the serial numbers go from 399999 then to 600000?

In his book "Columbia Phonograph Companion Volume 1" Howard Hazlecorn records the 1st version Type Q serial number blocks as encompassing 321,886 - 351,621, and 600,362 - 633,154.

The 2nd version is recorded as encompassing 803,157 - 1,065,180.

It's been proven in the earlier posts I linked that the 1st version serial numbers began lower.

Best,
Fran

fran604g wrote:In his book "Columbia Phonograph Companion Volume 1" Howard Hazlecorn records the 1st version Type Q serial number blocks as encompassing 321,886 - 351,621, and 600,362 - 633,154.

The 2nd version is recorded as encompassing 803,157 - 1,065,180.

It's been proven in the earlier posts I linked that the 1st version serial numbers began lower.

Best,
Fran

600,362 eh? Looks like I got a serial in the 600,000 range lower than that book!

[quote="AmberolaAndy" I’m not confident yet on disassembing the machine but I’m probably going to replace the governor weights and springs eventually. Do I unscrew the post and does the governor just slide out or is there any bearings I need to be aware of? [/quote]

Gosh, the governor weights and springs are probably the trickiest part of this machine's disassembly...and it's not too tricky. Just remove the two screws from the governor support, HOLD THE RIGHT END OF THE GOVERNOR SHAFT so it doesn't drop, and then pull the governor support to the right. (No separate bearings.) The governor shaft can then be removed by moving it to the right.

If you're confident that you can replace the governor weights and springs, you're quite capable of disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling this Q. You'll chuckle to yourself that you were ever intimidated by this.

George P.

phonogfp wrote:[quote="AmberolaAndy" I’m not confident yet on disassembing the machine but I’m probably going to replace the governor weights and springs eventually. Do I unscrew the post and does the governor just slide out or is there any bearings I need to be aware of?

Gosh, the governor weights and springs are probably the trickiest part of this machine's disassembly...and it's not too tricky. Just remove the two screws from the governor support, HOLD THE RIGHT END OF THE GOVERNOR SHAFT so it doesn't drop, and then pull the governor support to the right. (No separate bearings.) The governor shaft can then be removed by moving it to the right.

If you're confident that you can replace the governor weights and springs, you're quite capable of disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling this Q. You'll chuckle to yourself that you were ever intimidated by this.

George P.[/quote]

That easy huh? Awesome! Forgive my really specific questions. I just don’t want to do anything stupid and screw it up.