The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

The Dewitt County, Illinois museum, which
is close by where I live, has recently obtained a working Edison Standard (model B
I think) Machine.

It runs and plays ok, but it has a few issues:

It has a carriage arm that does not have a
lift lever. This carriage has teeth on the
bottom that engage on a spring-loaded rack
that is operated via a button. This makes the
carriage lift and drop back a few grooves.

My guess is that this is the language-teaching
attachment and carriage. What's odd about it
is that there's no handy way to stop the machine with the carriage up. It's a real
hassle to change records.

How is that carriage arrangement supposed to
work? How does it ever get so the carriage
rests up above the record?

This machine also apparently has 2/4 gearing
although I could not budge it loose from
the 2M setting. I will know more when I go
back with a bright light, some tools, my oil
can and a few things like that.

It also has a model H reproducer, which they
are using to play Gold Moulded 2 minute
records! I offered to help them get
this machine squared away better with all
the proper stuff.

First order of business is: What's up with
that carriage? Is it just missing its lift
lever? I am guessing that it needs a different carriage (one with a lift lever or
the button), and it also needs that rack
thing removed from the carriage rest portion
of the bedplate casting, where it is currently
bolted on.

It has an end-gate, and the funky early
half-a-gearcase cover. It also has the
speed adjustment up on top.

Nice machine overall. Dry as a bone, needs
oiling, needs TLC. They have a small
aftermarket morning glory horn for it, but no
crane. It has the upper crane bracket, but no
foot, and I've not looked underneath yet to
determine if the foot-bracket is there.

Any ideas or comments about that carriage
and repeating rack thing?

Thanks! Chuck

Hi Chuck,
do you have any pictures? it's hard to help without seeing.

I believe your Standard is an International Correspondence School (ICS) language machine. Even though it is a Model B Standard, it retained the speed control above the deck because the language cylinders ran at a slower speed. It has a phrase repeater which allows the user to repeat the last few groves. The carriage should have a lift lever and yours must be missing. The machine will also play entertainment cylinders. I hope this helps. Jerry Blais

Please post picture.

Chuck,

This is a picture of a Model C Standard with a language attachment and 2/4 gearing that I own. The lift lever is the narrow silver line just to the left of the bottom of the carriage. You also noted that it's hard to stop the machine - are you missing the start/stop lever shown here front and center?

Hope this helps.

Sorry that I do not have any pictures of the
machine in question, yet.

The questions I asked were based upon a very
quick little inspection of the machine that
I did yesterday for a few minutes only.
The lighting in that parlor is quite dim
and I barely even can make out the serial
number, which I think is 330349.

The picture of the ICS machine looks identical
to this machine at the museum. Most likely
the carriage is missing its lift lever, although I did not notice any empty screw hole
on the side of the carriage.

I will know a lot more after my next visit over there, when I take along a bright light,
my oil can, and a few tools including my
160 RPM stroboscopic disk, and it's companion
neon lamp, so that I can set the speed properly, and then do some recording
and playback tests on this machine.

Hopefully, on that visit, I can also get the
2/4 gearshift freed up and working right.

Sorry for the confusion about the start/stop
of this machine. That works fine. There is
just no way at present, to prop the carriage
up off the record, other than flipping the whole works way up, around, and tilting it clear back against the feedscrew cover.

Most likely, a lift lever and a screw is all
that's needed.

Thanks again! Chuck





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