The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I've gotten a lot of the bracket out by hitting it with a hammer, using pliers, and sending it to sessions in the freezer. Now is the difficult part. Does anyone have any advice on getting it to finally break free? I'm losing things to grip or hit at as it goes further down into the bracket, and I really want to avoid damage to the tonearm!

If you've ever tried repairing pot metal by using the stupid welding rod they sell at flea markets, you'll know that just when you don't want it to, pot metal will melt and collapse into a worthless glob. Sooooo... turn the flange upside down & put the torch to it. (and be careful)

Cut a couple slots in it radially from near the bevel at the base of the tone arm and split the base in half.

JerryVan wrote:If you've ever tried repairing pot metal by using the stupid welding rod they sell at flea markets, you'll know that just when you don't want it to, pot metal will melt and collapse into a worthless glob. Sooooo... turn the flange upside down & put the torch to it. (and be careful)

If you got this route, try and use torch with a pencil=point burner ( assuming you would be using a propane "bottle" torch ), so that you can concentrate the neat on the pot metal.


You might also try drilling down through the pot-metal collar with a sharp drill bit slightly smaller than the thickness of the pot-metal, making a couple of adjacent holes, then carefully chipping-out what's in between with a small cold -chisel ( sharp !) or even a small screw-driver. Once you break a chunk out of the circumference of the pot-metal, it should be fairly easy to get it to collapse inwards.

Well I channeled some inner rage and went at it with a pair of pliers. To my surprise it freed the tonearm! I will use the heat and drill methods to get the rest of the bracket out. I do remember the pot metal bearing on my Edison Standard D, and that it collapsed when I got one good chip on the circumference! Thanks guys

Just as I had resorted to sawing with a bread knife, it cracked and a section came out! The other couple sections also came out very easily soon after. It really is that one crack that you can make that sends the whole thing crumbling down. The one break that I created came from a combination of heat, a drill, and a bread knife!