The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

My Edison A250 was purchased with out a genuine grill and I intend to make my own. I obtained a portion of an antique phonograph that matches the stain on my A250 pretty well. One of my friends has a grill from another Edison that is exactly what I need. He will let me trace the pattern so I can transfer it to my own antique plywood. Getting the tracing precisely and then transferring the pattern has me scratching my head. Once I get the pattern on the wood, I don't anticipate any problems cutting it out. I'm thinking about using paper and a pen to trace it out. If I cover the wood on my board with blue painters tape I could use tracing paper to transfer the pattern. I want to get this done right so my phonograph grill looks authentic. The photo is taken from the internet showing what I need to trace. My fall back plan is to buy one from Gramps Treasures, but if I get it right, I will save $125. Any suggestions?

What I'd do is use a technique kind of like that used for making rubbings of old gravestones: Use an artist's graphite crayon (or an uncased charcoal pencil, though that would likely make more black dust) on thin paper to capture the design. This should give you a clean-lined outline of the pattern. Since the grille is symmetrical, you could then flip the paper and use the graphite or charcoal side as if it were carbon paper, to make a clean and crisp drawing for a template.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_rubbing

Cody K wrote:What I'd do is use a technique kind of like that used for making rubbings of old gravestones: Use an artist's graphite crayon (or an uncased charcoal pencil, though that would likely make more black dust) on thin paper to capture the design. This should give you a clean-lined outline of the pattern. Since the grille is symmetrical, you could then flip the paper and use the graphite or charcoal side as if it were carbon paper, to make a clean and crisp drawing for a template.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_rubbing

Thanks Cody. Earlier today I went to a crafts store and bought tracing paper so I guess I will try my idea first. Yours sounds pretty good so I might try it as well. However it works out I will post an account with pictures. I intend to take my time to get it right so don't look for it anytime soon.

How will you veneer it to match your machine. Or, to put it another wasy, could you just make a grill from a solid piece of the original type wood?