VV-50 (portable), VV-VI, and 2- vs 4-minute cylinders
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:18 pm
My thanks go again to so many people. Curt comes to mind, rizbone, Brad, Jerry B., alang--and many others. That's no particular order and I am sorry whom I've not included as I know I left out some people. Be certain that your help has been greatly appreciated.
So, my turn to post some results from all these inquiries, responses, and repairs. The portable VV-50 now has a new mainspring AND I've fixed the governor. One of the weights actually fell off. I reattached it, including the little washer that goes with it. I also double checked the entire motor to make sure those little bearings associated with the governor and the spindle were present. I teased them out of their hiding places, cleaned out the pivots, and provided fresh oil. I just reassembled the VV-50 and it is now running quietly. People have been kind to post pictures of their mahogany machines. It's a good wood. Mine has alligatored, but you know what, for the time being at least, I'm good with that.
My 1916 VV-VI motor has been reassembled, again making sure all those ball bearings are there. I took out the mainsprings, cleaned up everything, regreased and re-oiled, and now this machine is running rather well. So someone a long time ago got over ambitious with the grease. I was a bit more conservative. Thanks.
So what's the problem? No 78s to test the sound reproduction. Yep, all dressed up and no place to go. Yes, I know that finding 78s is not a problem. I like digging these things up at auctions and barns, and so I will eventually find some. I was at the Donnelly (name right?) auction and I was hoping to buy a box of 78s after all the better boxes were taken by bidders. You know, pick up the left overs as I didn't care what I was buying. But that last guy decided to take all the remaining 20 boxes or so at something like $25/box. Go figure. And I saw some more 78s at another auction. But they were in such bad shape that I decided not to add them to all the junk I have at home. And don't get me started on how I bought a whole bunch of Blue Amberols for my two-minute machines. Chalk that one up to my learning curve.
So again my thanks to everyone.
So, my turn to post some results from all these inquiries, responses, and repairs. The portable VV-50 now has a new mainspring AND I've fixed the governor. One of the weights actually fell off. I reattached it, including the little washer that goes with it. I also double checked the entire motor to make sure those little bearings associated with the governor and the spindle were present. I teased them out of their hiding places, cleaned out the pivots, and provided fresh oil. I just reassembled the VV-50 and it is now running quietly. People have been kind to post pictures of their mahogany machines. It's a good wood. Mine has alligatored, but you know what, for the time being at least, I'm good with that.
My 1916 VV-VI motor has been reassembled, again making sure all those ball bearings are there. I took out the mainsprings, cleaned up everything, regreased and re-oiled, and now this machine is running rather well. So someone a long time ago got over ambitious with the grease. I was a bit more conservative. Thanks.
So what's the problem? No 78s to test the sound reproduction. Yep, all dressed up and no place to go. Yes, I know that finding 78s is not a problem. I like digging these things up at auctions and barns, and so I will eventually find some. I was at the Donnelly (name right?) auction and I was hoping to buy a box of 78s after all the better boxes were taken by bidders. You know, pick up the left overs as I didn't care what I was buying. But that last guy decided to take all the remaining 20 boxes or so at something like $25/box. Go figure. And I saw some more 78s at another auction. But they were in such bad shape that I decided not to add them to all the junk I have at home. And don't get me started on how I bought a whole bunch of Blue Amberols for my two-minute machines. Chalk that one up to my learning curve.
So again my thanks to everyone.