The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

No doubt this summer will be one that will astound, amaze, and bewilder my fellow phono fanatics. I'm coming at you all fast, with, literally, a ONE-TWO punch of extraordinary machines that I will be fixing up. I'll start with this. An Edison Class-E. The machine exhibits modifications that I find appealing as creative measures to make the machine more usable. A back board was added to accept a Cygnet horn bracket (I will not be removing this, but I won't be installing a bracket either). As shown in the hirstorical photo, the Class-E machines had an external cabinet which contained resistance bulbs to reduce the mains DC voltage down to a reasonable level that the machine could operate with. I don't see this running on 110V DC, but maybe 30% less, or more. This has been internalized on this early North American cabinet, where the drawer would be, and vent holes were added on right side of the cabinet. The photo from the Edison Historic Site shows the later cabinet, with air holes drilled in the cabinet to allow heat to escape from the resistors. In 1908 a 2/4 min combination attachment was available for this machine, which was essentially a Triumph Model A mandrel, with a larger pulley...which is what this machine displays so well. I will not go into much guessing here, because my goal is to get the machine cleaned up and operational. But I suspect that this machine was modified intentionally, and has had a very long servicable life, right into the 4-minute cylinder record era!

Here are a few details of the machine. Do appreciate the gotta percha speed control knob, AND the few remaining bits of rubber still on the governor cage.....to insulate the unsuspecting operator from receiving an unintentional ZAP during use! The resistor pack insert, sitting above an asbestos sheet. Following the wires (tan wires are input current), the upper bulb offers one leg with resistance, the lower bulb adds more resistance to the second leg. The governor gets a LOW voltage line, and adds HIGHER voltage as the governor regulates. The unit was powered off of a DC light socket. I will be installing all new cloth covered wire, new-ish old style bulbs for resistance and a proper 2-prong plug and rectifier for "modern" use. The wiring throughout is thread wound, and incredibly fragile. It will all need to be replaced, but I will retain all original wires to stay with the machine. The wiring block feels like hard rubber, and is fragile. Should be re-using it. I will make a new block out of new hard rubber. Lots of corrosion on the copper fittings. There is a lot that needs to be done. Wiring. Cleaning. Rust removal. And I will post the progress as I go! Stay tuned!

This is going to be an amazing restoration thread! I will follow this with great interest.

You will find, however, that the modern reproduction carbon filament bulbs have much higher resistance than antique bulbs. I have an 1887 C&C fan which uses a light bulb to lower the resistance. I have experimented with many bulbs and found that antique bulbs are the only ones that work properly. None of the modern repros do the job. Fortunately antique bulbs are surprisingly common (at least those after 1900) and not expensive. (However for this fan I use a ca. 1892 Packard bulb which is definitely not common or cheap, but I love the single hairpin filament.)

This will be an interesting project... how about some background on how you obtained it and since it looks like an attic find, do you know where it was found?

It was found in an old institution, long forgotten. About as virgin a find as one could ever want.

Here is the top works. The mandrel is stamped "T A", for Triumph Model A. The pulley is 1-⅞" diameter, Model H reproducer. I will be disassembling, replacing carriage rod with a clean one, and treating all small steel parts with Evapo-Rust after a thorough de-greasing. When disassembling old stuff like this, I like to use a syringe to localize the application of Penetrating oil around the screws and rods. The top casting will come out lovely under all that grit and dirt.

Very interesting, as always, Wyatt!

Fran

When one disassembles something this old, lots of precaution must be exercised. For example.....using the correct size screwdriver to fit each differently sized screw. NOT FORCING ANYTHING for fear of breaking screws, bolts, or worse....cast iron parts. Using a small propane torch to gently heat non-painted parts so you can loosen up the glue-like oil varnish holding parts together. The carriage rod in this case was so rusted and corroded that I had to replace it with a shiny nice original one. Look at all that dirt! All metal parts will receive a bath in lacquer thinner to remove varnish, then rusty bits will receive a bath in evapo-rust. And yes, this was done on my granite countertop. TOO HOT OUTSIDE IN THE SHOP!

New carriage rod installed, all crud cleaned off. I am very much against the use of wire wheels for cleaning off corrosion. Look at the half-nut bar......it still wears most of its original nickel, although somewhat bubbled. I would rather have that than sterilizing it by taking off all the original nickel. Everything is oiled, and ready for its first play.....just not today!

Spectacular transformation.

Beautiful, Wyatt!