The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I just purchased a Home which had a large ugly dent in the mandrel and a bent shaft the machine was either dropped or something big fell on it. The dent was about ⅛ to ¼ in deep by 1 ¼ in long,a cylinder would not go on. I found a unique and maybe original way to fix it. I filled the mandrel with water with the shaft still in and put it upright in my freezer. The expanding water completely removed the dent. As a bonus the ice popped out the washer in the large end of the mandrel with out damage and neatly undid the rolled edge of the mandrel allowing access to the inside of the mandrel so that pimple like dents can be tapped out. When the large washer is replaced light taps on the edge of the mandrel will restore the rolled edge. Give this a try on your ruined mandrels. Next time I will use Cool Aid instead of water as the shaft and ice make a neat popcicle.

What a clever idea! Thanks for sharing!
Dave D

I see that you are new to the forum with three posts. Welcome!!!!
Thanks for sharing this great tip.

That's a great idea!!!! I would have never thought of that. I'm sure this will work with dented arms and elbows, as long as they are not pot metal.
Harvey Kravitz

That is ingenious! I wonder if it would work to remove dents in a tone arm ?

A clever idea this is!

How did your mandrel fare up to taper distortion? I know ice is a powerful, nasty foe when it comes to antique engine blocks and similar items.
Did the mandrel work/fit good with 2 minute wax cylinders? The dimensions of any cylinder mandrel's taper and diameter are pretty fussy.

A year or two ago, I machined a large, precision steel mold I could fill/pump with hydraulic fluid to achieve the same results, and it worked very well.

Kudos to you for thinking of such a simple and effective solution! Mine took 10 hours of machining

Respectfully Submitted,

Darren Wallace