The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I wonder if anybody on the list has had experience with fabricating replacement leather pieces for orthophonic dashpots? I have one where the leather circular piece which attaches to the piston is pretty degraded; I have the option of replacing the dashpot, or cutting out what looks like a fairly simple little piece of leather from the right thickness of scrap. I'd be grateful for any thoughts...
johnwilla

Making your own is probably the way to go; it doesn't seem like a complicated job. I have a beautiful, functioning Coleman one-mantle liquid-fueled lantern, and I had the good fortune to acquire a couple of spare leathers for its compressor pump, as well as several generators, back when they were cheap (on clearance) and available. Don't think I could find any now, as Coleman has gone to propane canisters exclusively AFAIK. Ditto the dashpot leathers. They are probably very similar to those used in storm-and-screen-door closers, but I don't know whether the Ortho ones are pre-shaped like the Coleman ones. Seems to me that there was a thread on this very topic not too long ago; have you tried the search feature on the board?

If you can find a real shoe repair man (almost extinct now)
he will have bit of leather and can shave it to the correct thickness
for you.