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I have an Amberola 1A motor that survived shipping very well, except for one small thing; the tiny, spring-loaded lever that lifts and lowers the hook on the reproducer has been bent downwards and slightly to one side. I thought it would bend back easily with pliers, but because of the way it is mounted, it's not going to be that simple.

Does anyone have a good way of putting this back the way it belongs without a significant risk to snapping it off? It doesn't look like this can be easily removed and replaced.

Thanks in advance for all advice.

Kevin

hello, Kevin,

I will offer what little I know. The reproducer stanchion on the Amberola 1A is unique to that machine, therefore the reproducer lift lever is possibly not interchangeable with the same component on the Amberola 1B, III, Opera/Concert, and School. Thus, I would strongly urge you to disconnect the linkage to the stanchion from below the bedplate, and unbolt the stanchion from the top of the bedplate, and proceed carefully to remove the lift lever from the stanchion. (No, I do not know how to do this, but it must be possible). You may want to employ the services of a machine shop to apply heat in order to get the reproducer lift lever back to its original shape or, failing that, to fabricate a new one for you. Perhaps such parts are available, but they won't be easy to find, I imagine.

Also, be sure to check the condition of the reproducer's lift hook, to make sure it shoulders and/or its mounting screw are not also damaged.

Best wishes, Mark

Mark,

Thanks for the comment. I'm trying to avoid disassembling that piece because it interconnects with quite a lot of things I don't want to play with. I do like the idea of using to heat though, so thanks for that.

No need to worry about the reproducer hook; none was sent with the motor and the reproducers I have both have good hooks.

Other ideas are welcome.

Thanks,
Kevin

Well, despite proceeding gently, the *&%^ thing snapped off.

So, if anybody has a junker 1A motor, please contact me as I am now looking for that part. I know someone who has one, but IMHO his asking price is a bit much. The arrow in the photo points to what I need. I can give instructions on how to remove it.

I'm also looking for ideas on how to put the part back together again. Perhaps some kind of epoxy would work? As you can see, there is a very thin spot on the lever, which it why it snapped easily.

52089 wrote:...I am now looking for that part. George V. has one, but IMHO his asking price is a bit much.

How much does he want? Those parts don't grow on trees.

If you like, you can send me the broken pieces and I'll silver solder them back together for you. Minimal cost +postage. Let me know.

In all fairness to George, and not knowing or asking what he's charging, you're probably, in essence, asking him to turn a complete assembly into an incomplete one that he must now part out in hopes of getting as much as he could have for the full assembly.

JerryVan wrote:If you like, you can send me the broken pieces and I'll silver solder them back together for you. Minimal cost +postage. Let me know.

In all fairness to George, and not knowing or asking what he's charging, you're probably, in essence, asking him to turn a complete assembly into an incomplete one that he must now part out in hopes of getting as much as he could have for the full assembly.

Thanks for the offer. I think I have repaired it and will post pics later.

Sorry, no intention of disparaging George, who has to eat just like the rest of us. No, he has a stanchion assembly from a junker, so he's not turning a complete motor into a parts machine. However, since it was brought up, his asking price for the one part was more than 10% of what I paid for an entire working motor. If I were asking him to break up a motor, that would probably be fair.

OK, here's what I did to repair this. First, I put the larger piece in a pair of pliers that I held closed with a rubber band to make a makeshift vise. This allowed me to have the large piece perfectly flush with a flat surface and perfectly perpendicular to the flat lever. Once that was done, I took a short length of paper clip, bent it slightly to match the angle of the joint, then crazy glued it in place. This was done to add strength to the joint and was not intended to be the primary repair. After allowing that to dry thoroughly, I cut off a very small piece of JB Weld SteelStik (steel enforced epoxy) and prepared as directed. Then I rolled a very small piece into a thin strand and applied it to the joint. I also added a very tiny amount to the "top" of the joint for added strength.

Pictures of the results did not come out well (sorry) but the joint appears to be strong and should hold for this application. Since the bulk of the repair is "under" the lift lever, it should look pretty normal when it's installed.

Thanks again to all those who offered tips and/or services.