The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Mention the name "Qualcast" to an Englishman and lawnmowers will come to mind, their first being produced in 1920, but here is a large triple-spring gramophone motor bearing their name.

It was shown to me by Alastair Murray who had acquired it from Frank James, and would clearly have been fitted in a higher priced machine.

The question is, what machine? Has anyone else seen one?

A clockwork powered lawnmower? Now there's a thought......

It looks just like a Columbia motor so was probably made by Garrard !

Having made further enquiries I can confirm that the motor was indeed made by Garrard, and that the Qualcast name is that of the well known lawnmower manufacturer, but why that name is on a gramophone motor remains a mystery.

To power a rotating shop display? There are Garrard-branded examples : what sort of speed does this motor turn at?

Might not "Qualcast" have been a subcontractor to Garrard as one point, supplying castings? A foundry is a very expensive thing to set up, and most manufacturers find it more cost-effective to leave that sort of work to specialists. As far as I can tell, "Qualcast" began as a contract foundry, and did a large business providing grey iron castings to other companies.

Uncle Vanya wrote:Might not "Qualcast" have been a subcontractor to Garrard as one point, supplying castings? A foundry is a very expensive thing to set up, and most manufacturers find it more cost-effective to leave that sort of work to specialists. As far as I can tell, "Qualcast" began as a contract foundry, and did a large business providing grey iron castings to other companies.

Good point. The company was originally known as the Derwent Foundry which supplied cast iron components to industry, notably cylinder blocks for car engines. During WW2 they obtained the exclusive UK rights to an American ferrous diecasting process for ammunition manufacture, and after 1945 this process was also used in the manufacture of components for the motor industry.

As to the speed the motor runs, this has yet to be determined as all is not well with it. There is excessive end float on the spindle, suggesting a problem at the base. A ball bearing missing perhaps?

The idea of a shop window display had not occurred to me, but it could be the answer. Watch this space......

Some machinery companies made small efforts to enter the phonograph business. I have a well made early portable from a Dayton Ohio firm that usually made farm machinery, and had been a subcontractor for the Wright Bros.