The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Bought this at auction today. Motor works, reproducer is good. It was put in the basement years ago, pot metal bearing is swollen. Case is not broken but needs regluing. Should be a lot of fun!

That should keep you busy and out of mischief for awhile.

Post some progress pics now and then.

Clay

Great project, I'm with you, love to rescue abandoned, neglected machines. Have fun.............

Rod Lauman of the Victrola Repair Service did some superb nickle plating for me about 5 years ago. I was restoring an Edison Standard 'A' that was in similar condition. He did not fully polish the plating but left it slightly dull. Even considering some of the pitting, it still looks very good.

What is the best way to get the swollen bearing out without damaging anything else? Any help is much appreciated.

I have heard of people getting a drill bit slightly bigger than the inside of the bearing then simply "reaming" the original bearing whilst still in the casting, I haven't done this myself

Last time this question was asked, someone recommended using muriatic acid, which apparently dissolves the pot metal, but I've never tried it myself.

I once used a hacksaw to carefully slice the bearing at the bottom. Simply disconnect the blade, then reassemble with the blade through the hole in the bearing. The pot metal is soft, so it cuts easily; be careful not to shoot through into the cast iron. The best route is to saw down until just a sliver of bearing remains. Then give it a tap with a hammer and punch. The pot metal should give way with no problem.

George P.

The BEST way is to send it to George Vollema!

Kirtley, the real problem, which wasn't directly mentioned, is to remove the mandrel and shaft from the potmetal bearing. Once you do that, getting the bearing out of the casting is easy. You can chop it out by several methods as long as you don't break the cast iron post.

I did a standard D a few years ago and I ended up adapting a bearing puller so that I could push the mandrel shaft out of the post. I rigged it so that I was applying pressure between the pulley end of the shaft and the mandrel side of the cast iron bearing support post. Even with heavy duty equipment, it was a real job to drive out the shaft. At the time, I hadn't heard about muriatic acid or I would have tried it.

Jim