The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Picked this up today. As bought. No clean up. It came with a new belt and 2 cylinders (plus 2 blue amberol cylinders). Repo crank, but otherwise seems all original. Motor runs strong and quiet. My first cylinder machine. I paid $440. Don't know if that's good or not. Anyway I am happy. I'll post some after clean up pics later.

Congrats on your first cylinder machine. Your Home looks to be in real nice condition. I'm very partial to the Homes-- No specific reason. My interest just developed that way over the years. Please share pictures when you get it all cleaned up.

Brad Abell

I forgot to mention how great that dealer tag looks. Definitely ads to the machine!!

Brad Abell

Thanks, I think it'll clean up real nice. I forgot to mention one downside, no horn. The owner never got one when he bought it and never pursued it. I've seen decent repos on the web pretty reasonable.

Good looking Home. I think you did well at that price. I would buy a repro witches hat for now, then watch for the horn of your dreams! Congrats.

I agree - - you did great. Congratulations!

Your Home is a two-minute machine, so the Blue Amberols (being four-minute) won't play on it. They'll come in handy later...

Home No.42430 left the factory about August 1901, and it's one of the very last suitcase Homes manufactured. It carries the scarce transitional mandrel with a formed groove at the inner end.

That dealer plate is a beauty! I'd have bought it myself for that price!

George P.

Make sure you (as an "every possessor" mentioned on the plate) "admit the validity of the above enumerated patents", or the ghost of some lawyer will make it run funny ! hehe

Hello,
I think you got a heck of a deal on a very nice looking suitcase home. Why don't you spend the extra $80 dollars and buy an original 14" brass bell horn from the " Trader" section of the Forum. There are several nice ones for sale now! It would really complete your machine.
Pete

Well, it cleaned up pretty well, at's good. The bad is the motor spins well until you play a cylinder, then it slowly loses power and stops. If I wind it fully, the springs seem to stick until some of the tension is released then it frees up. I can only assume the spring needs degreaser and re lubed with some modern grease that does not have the consistency of peanut butter on a cold day. I have checked, rechecked and oiled everything else. Any ideas of an easy way to degrease the spring and re-lube it? Thanks.

Oh yeah, can someone tell me what the adjustable cowbell looking thing on the reproducer arm is?

Are you planning to "flip" it?? (Pictures are upside down) Beautiful machine-- You made an outstanding buy and you cleaned it up beautifully. The "cowbell" is part of a shaver unit that allows users to shave early wax recording cylinders and make home recordings-- Then, shave it again and make another recording. Definitely a nice item that helps complete your machine.

I agree with Pete (flashpanblue) John Duffy has nice original horns for $80 listed in the Yankee Trader section. A repro will cost you $40-45. It would be worth the little extra to get an original. I have an all brass original horn mounted on my early Suitcase home. That's a sharp combination as well.

Thanks for sharing your pictures. For a first cylinder machine, you've got a beauty--- Not the usual 'entry level' machine that most collectors find. Congrats!

Brad Abell