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I recently bought a Triumph D here on the board and a matching Triumph straight horn.
I’m trying to do all of the restoration on this myself without sending it out. It was black as night when I got it and I’ve done three gojo runs over the case and the bedplate.and thrown away three white tee shirts that were pretty black when they retired. The case cleaned up quite a bit but the bedplate is very dull. Should I keep going with gojo or try something else like bartenders helper? I should mention that I also did one run with car wax on it and it did not seem to make any difference.
Also I bought a reproduction crane from Ron Sitko and it did not come with an elbow like my fireside had.
Is that correct for this phonograph with the tilted carriage or will that put too much pressure on the reproducer and carriage?
I’ve searched through past postings and like another person with a Triumph D, I had the original holes and cut out for a front mount crane as well as two holes in the back for some type of rear mount crane that must have held a small horn as they do not match up with a Cygnet horn bracket . In the pictures I took the elbow off of my Fireside to use but if this unit does not require one then I am going to need to trim back that rod some more.

Thanks in advance to any advise, I’m planning on replacing the belt tomorrow and want to know what I should do about the bedplate before I go any further. If the case and cover do not get any lighter I am fine with that as it looks much better than what I started with. This is my first time to use gojo after reading all of your recommendations for years and now after seeing it in action I plan to use some on our old farm house table from the 1800s tomorrow too.

You do not need that metal elbow, it is not necessary. Shorten the connection between the reproducer and the horn. The top half of your crane that holds the chain is way too far out causing the horn to droop.

Notice how my horn angles upwards.

You want to use ScratchX to brighten up the bedplate. See this thread:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... t=scratchx

The belt does not necessarily need to be replaced. I don't know how much experience you have with Triumphs, but they have a knurled knob on the motor frame which adjusts the height of the front of the motor, and the belt tension as well. Thus you have a certain range of adjustment for the belt stretching over time. I have had my Triumph for almost 50 years and have replaced the (original) belt once. The replacement belt has been on the machine for 20 - 30 years. I adjust mine so that if I grab the mandrel and stop it abruptly the motor will coast quickly to a stop in less than a half turn of the motor pulley. That way, the belt is tight enough that it won't slip while running but loose enough that it won't stretch prematurely or cause excessive wear to the shafts and bushings.

Nice work! That is a very good looking Triumph.

One thing about a repro horn crane is that
sometimes it is not exactly the correct angle
for the machine you are using it on.

I've been using one of them for many years now
on my model D combination machine. I remember
when I first fit it up on the machine, I had to
custom bend it to get the horn position where I
wanted it to be.

I stuck it into the bench vise between a few pieces
of wood so as not to scratch it up, then went about
hand bending it. Tried it at the machine with horn,
bent it some more and did that routine until it ended
up positioning the horn perfectly balanced with the
end of the hose bumping the reproducer neck, just like
it's supposed to be.

The weight of the horn pulls it down a bit and
you've got to take that into account as you adjust
the crane.

phonojim wrote:The belt does not necessarily need to be replaced. I don't know how much experience you have with Triumphs, but they have a knurled knob on the motor frame which adjusts the height of the front of the motor, and the belt tension as well. Thus you have a certain range of adjustment for the belt stretching over time. I have had my Triumph for almost 50 years and have replaced the (original) belt once. The replacement belt has been on the machine for 20 - 30 years. I adjust mine so that if I grab the mandrel and stop it abruptly the motor will coast quickly to a stop in less than a half turn of the motor pulley. That way, the belt is tight enough that it won't slip while running but loose enough that it won't stretch prematurely or cause excessive wear to the shafts and bushings.

I have exactly zero experience with Triumphs. I take it the knob you are referring to is the one I am pointing at in this picture?

Pete Stratford wrote:You do not need that metal elbow, it is not necessary. Shorten the connection between the reproducer and the horn. The top half of your crane that holds the chain is way too far out causing the horn to droop.

Notice how my horn angles upwards.

I cut another 2” off of the top rod and while it is better my angle is nowhere near as steep as yours in the picture.
I think Chuck is correct in that I probably need to bend the bottom rod to more of a steep angle

Yes, that is the knob. Turning it counter-clockwise will tighten the belt, clockwise will loosen it.

Jim

edison phonographs wrote:

Pete Stratford wrote:You do not need that metal elbow, it is not necessary. Shorten the connection between the reproducer and the horn. The top half of your crane that holds the chain is way too far out causing the horn to droop.

Notice how my horn angles upwards.

I cut another 2” off of the top rod and while it is better my angle is nowhere near as steep as yours in the picture.
I think Chuck is correct in that I probably need to bend the bottom rod to more of a steep angle

You don't need to bend anything. It looks fine as is, (to my eye). There's no "wrong" angle as long as you're satisfied with how it looks.

You can remove links from the chain In order to raise the horn.

Jim