The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I am getting to the point where I have enough cylinders to come up with something better than the original cardboard tubes, especially from a preservation standpoint.

Original cylinder cabinets and cases are pretty dear...


Has anyone published / shared decent DIY plans for cylinder storage systems ?


Thanks !

Until recently, Crystal Light, a powdered ice tea and lemonade product, came in a plastic canister exactly sized to hold a cylinder (wrapped in foam). It is made in a chemically inert plastic. I had friends and relatives save this for me and have been able to move all my wax cylinders to these containers. Unfortunately Crystal Light has changed packaging recently so these are no longer available. Does anyone know of any product now using these containers?

I also purchased three and four-drawer unfinished cabinets with drawers ideally sized to hold cylinders. The bonus is you have the tops for phonographs and you can finish the cases to suit any room decor. I keep cylinders of similar genre in each drawer so all I need is to pull out a drawer and take it to the phonograph. I have all my records on an Excel database with "location" in one field, so I know which drawer and in which cabinet any cylinder is resting at any time.

Those period cabinets with pegs, and those fitted plush lined cases have a lot to answer for. As soon as most owners had filled them with cylinders, they discarded the original boxes and lids, much to the frustration of today's collectors.

My husband recently reconstructed an old "Free" brand sewing machine cabinet into cylinder storage for my Triumph. He dovetailed all the drawers. I think it turned out really nice and the price was right. Under $100.00 including the cost of the cabinet($60.00 at auction).The drawers allow me to keep the cylinders in the containers. What do you all think?

Looks great, looks period correct, and also gives you storage for an estimated 130 cylinders.

Andreas

phonogal wrote:My husband recently reconstructed an old "Free" brand sewing machine cabinet into cylinder storage for my Triumph.

The cabinet is beautiful, very nice handywork!
(I wonder if this would 'horrify' sewing machine collectors. )

epigramophone wrote:Those period cabinets with pegs, and those fitted plush lined cases have a lot to answer for. As soon as most owners had filled them with cylinders, they discarded the original boxes and lids, much to the frustration of today's collectors.

While on the topic of original cylinder boxes, what to do with those...

Many (most) of my black-wax cylinders came in an original cardboard tube, most of them lined with cotton wadding, and probably 60% have mold to some degree.

We're warned against storing cylinders in the original tubes, especially if mold was / is present.

So, what do you do with all those original cylinder tubes; store them in a separate place ?


The last batch of 40-some 2-minute black wax actually were in their original boxes, with numbers-matching lids and paper slips glued to the outside of the tube... Now, I wouldn't thrown them away, but it's a pain to have to store them separately.

I was thinking of perhaps finding some old sheet-music cabinets with the slide-out shelves, and creating shelves with "cobbs" to hold the cylinders...


What is the usual spacing for cylinder cobbs / pegs, and diameter there-of ?

phono-smitten wrote:

phonogal wrote:My husband recently reconstructed an old "Free" brand sewing machine cabinet into cylinder storage for my Triumph.

The cabinet is beautiful, very nice handywork!
(I wonder if this would 'horrify' sewing machine collectors. )

I don't know what sewing machine collectors would think but I know there is usually an old sewing machine at every auction I attend and you don't seem to be able to "give" them away. I really liked this cabinet and it matches in color perfectly with the Triumph.

De Soto Frank wrote:While on the topic of original cylinder boxes, what to do with those...

Many (most) of my black-wax cylinders came in an original cardboard tube, most of them lined with cotton wadding, and probably 60% have mold to some degree.

We're warned against storing cylinders in the original tubes, especially if mold was / is present.

So, what do you do with all those original cylinder tubes; store them in a separate place ?

Well, I do store mine separately, at least the ones that I've put the records into a cabinet. A long time collector friend of mine told me awhile back that if you put the boxes out in the sun for a day or two, any mold spores present in the cotton will be killed and no longer an issue. I had probably 100 or so two minute cylinder boxes that had moldy cylinders in them that I tried this with as an experiment. I put the boxes in beer flats with the lids off in the direct sun for a couple of days. I put a couple of clean two minute wax Edisons in them and put them away and forgot about it. Over a year later, the cylinders are just fine. He also does this with storage albums and record sleeves. I've done this those also and it seems to work. It also works to get rid of the musty basement smell.

Sometimes I wonder what my neighbors think when they see my driveway lined with record sleeves and storage albums...

Sean