The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I picked up a Baby Grand a while back that was in pretty good condition with the exception of the grill. Im not much of a 'woodworker' and was wondering if anyone can recommend a source for repair like this. The missing pieces are, missing, so they would have to be made by hand. At least the grill is there, but needs a little tlc.

My best suggestion is to contact a local luthier (stringed instrument builder/repairer). They are very good at repairs like these that require a great deal of finesse. Check with some of the (smaller) local music stores or check with some local musicians if you can't find who you want in the phone book.

Looking at this fancy grille, I'm reminded of a question I've had for a while: How were these grilles originally made? Today, this would be done with a laser cutter in a jiffy. But back then, some kind of saw or punch must have been used. What with all the closed cutouts, you couldn't readily do this on a jig or a scroll saw - you'd have to remount the saw blade for every closed hole. Too tedious for production work. I suspect that they were stamped out with a punch and die set. But these grilles are usually about ¼ inch thick and made of laminated wood. Were the individual laminations stamped and then laminated up? Or could they reliably stamp out clean edges on ¼ inch thick laminated stock? Any furniture makers out there know how it was done 80 years ago?

My best guess would be a pin router which traces a pattern with a pin and transfers the pattern to a cutline using a small bit in an adjacent router. The router and pin can also raise and lower to start cuts by plunging.

When I had my sign shop and sand-blasting rig, I experimented with making grills by applying a rubber mask of the design on a laminated veneer blank and blasting away the open areas. It worked well but I was too busy making signs to pursue it beyond making a couple of grills for myself.

For what it's worth, here is what a complete Baby Grand Grill looks like.

I had a similar grille made for me by Brian Krapes http://www.z50partsandphonographspecial ... Parts.html who has made several for me. His work is impeccable. In this case the grille curves over the frame. To get it to flex I belt sanded the back to make it thinner.

Send it to Brian so he can copy the pattern if he does not already have it.

The original grille is face glued onto the frame. You will have to belt sand it off completely.

Thanks Covah! I had just emailed him about a grill for my Amberola DX that I saw he has/had on eBay, funny you should mention him.

Solophoneman - Thanks for the closeup pic. I have pics here from different websites, but didnt have anything that close. Much appreciated!

- Jim

Your suggestion of a pin router, John, is a good possibility. However, note that in this Sonora grille as in many others, there are some very sharp inside corners and even some very thin slits. To rout these would require a very small router bit. Again, speculating on the technology available around 90 years ago, I'm still suspicious that the orginals were mass produced using a punch and die arrangement of some kind.

I was looking at the grill in detail this afternoon, and where there are breaks, it's as if there are layers. Could they have been punched and then glued and stacked. The grain of the wood in each layer is in different directions, maybe for added strength?

They are layers, it's veneer plywood. I'm certain that the grille was cut with a jigsaw or a scroll saw, most probably after using drills to remove material. You couldn't stamp through all the thicknesses at once and if you stamped them individually they'd never line up smoothly.