The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Kirkley's thread about the disastrous shipping of his Edison Home reminded me again about the dangers of shipping a cylinder machine as a complete unit. The safest method is to pack the mechanism and cabinet in different cartons. As knowledgeable buyers, we should make suggestions to a possibly less experienced seller. As a seller, we should make the same suggestion to any buyer.
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Please note this is not a criticism of Kirkley. I previously send machines as one unit and was lucky. I personally learned my lesson when a friend bought a early Edison Concert, put it in an apple box, and checked it as baggage at the airport. The heavy mechanism destroyed the cabinet.

I could be wrong....but, I think there is a great thread on this already in our "tips & tech" section.

I pack anything as if expecting the box to be drop kicked across the room. See this clip on YouTube to get the general idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C-e96m4730

I agree that wooden cabinets should be boxed separate from motors and bedplates. I have even heard stories about the cast motor frames on Edison Triumphs breaking during shipment due to the heavy springs.

I wonder how many machines and records have been smashed in transit since the advent of eBay?

VintageTechnologies wrote:
I wonder how many machines and records have been smashed in transit since the advent of eBay?

well, for me, one 78, one edison home and i hope it stays that way!!

Very recently, I shipped an Edison Spring Motor Machine to a fellow collector. He bought it in Seattle and I shipped it to him. What I did was overkill, but I was not going to take any chances. I sent the motor, upper works and case in three separate boxes. I used plenty of packing and double boxed each component. Sure, it was expensive, but everything arrived safely. The recipient was extremely grateful for my packing method.
Harvey Kravitz

I've had a Triumph arrive shattered because the shipper didn't take my advice and take the upperworks and motor out into another box. They were in the same box and did some kind of slam dunk on the case, obviously. Thats my only mishap and I was buying about 5-7 machines a year over the past two years from people who didn't know anything about shipping. Shipping a Standard or Home is probably safe as is, with the carriage held in place, but what you cant detect is a possible preexisintg hairline crack or weak spot, so its safest to take everything apart. If the machine is of importance to you and history, and especially if you are getting a bargin on the price, have it shipped by a professional at UPS after you instruct the shipper to take out motor and so on.

I've had a columbia tabletop have gain some large cracks that needed glueing and a Victrot table top that was shipped upside down (because the postal service doesn't seem to understand what "up" means). With all that weight bouncing up and down on the spindle, the turn table has a very noticable wobble when it plays.