The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi,
How (or do you) remove the brass "grommet" (where the crank is inserted on a Edison cylinder phonograph) to work on the finish?

Benjamin

If you do it like most folks, you either splinter the surrounding wood or bend the ring (or both). I've been a coward when it comes to that area and work with it in place. I too would like to see how it's removed in a non-destructive way.

Regards,
Martin

Thanks martin,
I really couldn't see any non-destructive way of removal myself, so I had pretty much concluded to work with it in place. I just wanted to see if anyone else has had a brilliant solution to this problem

I use a small straight blade screwdriver (width of tip about ⅛ inch) and insert it from the inside under one of the dimples which are on the inside of the ring. If the bond of one of the dimples can broken this way, the ring will pop out relatively easily without damage to either the wood or the ring. However, sometimes the bond is very good and the ring must be forcefully bent at one of the dimples so that the ID becomes smaller than the hole. If you bend only the part that is inside the hole, not the curved outer part that shows, the ring can be straightened on a wood dowl or metal rod.

Look on the inside of the grommet for the small dimple. You can bend that up and push the whole thing out with a screwdriver or a wood dowel.
Dave