The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Part 1: The Patient

I've decided to document the restoration of one of my recent project machine purchases.
I acquired the patient from an awfully nice collector (you may know him) Jerry B about a
month or so ago but had to finish up a few other projects before I could sink my teeth into this
one.

Below are the images of the machine as I received it (images courtesy of Jerry), and yes,
even after seeing them I decided to buy it.

Everything is there except a horn and the linkage that runs from the speed control knob to the governor.
(maybe someone can help me out with it's 'official' name)
By the way, if you're planning on following this restoration I should warn you ahead of time...

1. There will be a lot of spelling errors
2. There will be several bad jokes
3. There may or may not be several animated gifs.


I'll try to address the missing linkage first.

Hmmmm.....this looks to be interesting, I will eagerly look forward
to each installment as you post them. Good luck with this project.
Gene

Just the type of thing that I would do myself... can't wait to see the progress.

I hope I don't disappoint!
I'll try and post once I figure out this linkage.


In the meantime, here's 10 hours of this...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCNrK-n68CM[/youtube]

Mr Grumpy wrote:I hope I don't disappoint!
I'll try and post once I figure out this linkage.


In the meantime, here's 10 hours of this...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCNrK-n68CM[/youtube]

IT'S THE TROLOLO GUY!!! EXCELLENT

I'm sure you will do better than "All the King's horses and all the King's men" I look forward to your docudrama.

Mr Grumpy wrote:

1. There will be a lot of spelling errors

Excuse me, Mr. Editor?

Torjazzer wrote:
Excuse me, Mr. Editor?

Thanks goodness for proofreaders...

Part 2: A Dremel and a Dream

Okay, this is the part of the restoration that'll be difficult for some of you to watch.
I've decided to try and fabricate a speed control linkage from scratch, and while some may say
'why didn't you just call George V' or 'You should have placed an ad in the Yankee trader section!'
I'll tell you a little secret about myself.
I have about as much patience as this guy...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuoL1gsF-wY[/youtube]

Not only am I impatient, but I also know that I'll be holding on to this machine for a while
and will eventually find the linkage and replace the one I've made. For now, I'd like
to see this machine sing again as soon as possible.

Here's a list of what I used to do this.
1. A Dremel with a good quality cut off wheel and grinding stone.
2. A small arc welder (I guess you could use some heavy duty epoxy but I wouldn't trust it in this area).
3. A drill and a few drill bits (for the spring holder hole and the hole that attaches this piece to the frame.
4. Some sheet metal - 16GA
5. A dream, which convinces you that you somehow have the skill to pull this off.

Optional items would be.

1. If you're going the welding route.


2.


3. very helpful item was a second Victor M I own with an original linkage that I could use
as a template for the one I made.

After tracing out the various shapes, taking measurements and all that boring stuff, I cut
the pieces out. Then I cleaned and sanded them to define their shape a little better.
I welded the 'U'-shaped part to the longer handle part of the linkage last.

Pics...
Now,

Unless this is a picture of you...



I'm sure you can tell the difference.
( did he just do a Stevie Wonder joke? Tasteless I know, but you were warned)

The idea isn't to fool anyone into thinking this is an original, but to get the machine working
again, so in MY dream I made it the same as an original.

After completion, I attached it to my complete Victor M to see if anything rubbed or if it was a catastrophic
failure. Below is a video of the first try.
The Victor M in the video hasn't had it's motor serviced yet so it sounds a bit like this..
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw72YcUOCR0[/youtube]

Here's the real deal.
(As you can tell from the video, the band-aids did come in handy when trying to reduce the blood loss)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maCl9yt3hFo[/youtube]


In the next part, I'll try to bring this back to life...

She's a little rusted, seized, and there's a broken screw holding the governor bushing in place...
I probably should have tried to address this first before wasting all that time with the linkage.

Oh well, no room for failure!





Until next time, here's something to keep you entertained.
(10 hours of it)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLmcGkvJ-e0[/youtube]

This thread, "A Dremel and a Dream", is more entertaining than an episode of Downton Abbey. I can't wait for the next installment. It won't be too long considering the author's lack of patience. Jerry Blais