The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

A phonograph was shipped to me across country with a blue Amberol cylinder still on the mandrel. Now I can't get it off. Short of cutting the cylinder off, does anyone have any suggestions on how to remove this? It's a decent Uncle Josh record. I'd like to save it if possible.

Thanks - Mike

How about gently warming it with a hair dryer? Jerry B.

"It's a decent Uncle Josh record."

There is no such thing...

I second the suggestion of applying heat . If you use a hair dryer, hold it far enough away so as not to create a particular "hot spot". Warm it gently & slowly.

If you heat it the mandrel will expand a and hold it tighter won't it ? So shouldn't you place an ice pack on the mandrel part which you can see so it shrinks ?

I would also be concerned with heat. I would try an icing spray from the automotive store and apply it to the mandrel.

Good luck!
Andreas

I really don't agree with the heat and/or chemicals approach here.

I say you get a popsicle stick and flatten one end, then place it against the edge of the stuck cylinder and as parallel to the mandrel surface as possible, and gently tap it with a small hammer (in the direction of removing the cylinder from the mandrel, of course), just a little each time as you work around the cylinder perimeter. Maybe a helper can rotate the mandrel for you a little at a time. Work your way around the whole thing as many times as it takes. At some point it should pop free.

And if it doesn't, well, just say "a-hyuh-hyuh-hyuh Uncle Josh!" and cut the thing off.

I agree with PeterF but I would take the mandrel off the machine and then tap off the cylinder.

Rich Gordon

Removing the mandrel shouldn't be necessary and can lead to more complications.

But when I said "gently" I did indeed mean gently. You are supposedly trying to save the cylinder so if you are tapping hard enough to bend the shaft (which is probably why Rich made his comment) you are also splintering the popsicle stick and/or ruining the cylinder anyway.

The idea with the heat is that the record will warm before the mandrel does. In theory anyway...

Yeah, sure. And how do we know that plaster and weird early plastic expand at the same rate? We don’t.

No heat. No chemicals. Tap it.

(I can’t believe I’m expending so much effort on an uncle josh cylinder. But sacrifices must be made for the greater good, and it’s more fun than this work I’m supposed to be doing.)