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Here is a YouTube video of an exploding Victrola spring.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZYLu2WuOZk

Enjoy!

P.S. - The YouTube copyright police say the background music has a copyright claimant...

Cliff

That is a relatively mild example! Years ago I used to change my own mainsprings, and I always found that there came a point when I could no longer maintain control of the spring as it came out of the barrel. (It did not help that my hands are the size of an average twelve-year-old's.) Then I would throw the barrel in one direction and myself in the opposite one and wait for the subsequent explosion to subside. If I tried the job now I would be rewarded for my temerity with two broken wrists and a heart-attack.

Oliver Mundy.

Just for fun....
Dangerous! But after having changed gramophone springs for more than 35 years, my true conclusion is that the worst moment is when replacing the spring into the barrel, near the end of the process. You start winding the spring into the barrel, and at the beginning it is relatively easy. But the is a moment, after inserting several turns, when you start to feel your hands very tired of retaining the spring, but still you must retain it strongly, and still there is part of the spring out of the barrel, and you must hold it firmly not to release it. It's just before inserting the central coils, when everything suddenly becomes easier. Do you know the moment I'm referring to?
And I've observed that small motors are the worst! With bigger springs I find it much easier to hold a grip on them with your hands.
I must say that I don't use a vise, I hold the barrel and the already inserted coils in one hand, while inserting the remaining spring with the other hand, passing the barrel from one hand to the other. At the beginning I used gloves, but I found it more difficult because the inserted spring coils tend to pinch the gloves and its difficult to release your hand to continue the work. It's easier to work without gloves.
Of course, with the barrel held on a vise, everything is easier and less dangerous!
With the big barrels of motor no32 and 34, I can put the barrel on the floor between my knees, and work the huge spring with both hands, much easier!

Yes, I have had exactly Inigo's experience when feeding in the new spring; there comes a moment when you have to change your grip, and that is precisely when the new spring is most apt to escape. Sometimes I have been compelled to let it fly out and then start the whole process again.

Instead of gloves, I used to wrap my hands in several layers of rags.

Oliver Mundy.

I have found it much safer to blow the old spring out into a large burlap bag. Not only is it safer but the graphite grease doesn't fly out over everything. I would be very hesitant on holding the spring barrel between my knees and winding in a new spring. The potential of a MAJOR injury is nearby.
Ken

I definitely find large springs easier to handle than the smaller ones. These tend to be too strong for these small barrels you have to feed into. I'm thinking precisely of a small Thorens motor with a spring of 20-22mm x 2200mm or so, which is 0.45mm thick (or maybe 0.55mm, I don't remember well) and this must be fitted into a very small barrel that has the gear stamped on its border. This added the difficulty of holding the barrel with these sharp teeth precisely on the border where you must grip to hold the spring inside. The leather gloves I used then were destroyed by these teeth!

I have done my own spring work for almost 50 years now. I always put the barrel in a vise so I can have two hands available to handle the spring both for removal and replacement. When I am winding the spring back into the barrel, my wife helps me by holding the free end so I can concentrate on getting it in place. I won't even try to hold the barrel in one hand and the barrel in the other - I'm not strong enough for that.

Jim

When I removed the springs from my vv IX I put the barrel in a empty large size pop corn can and used two hands with gloves. The spring popped out of the barrel, but was contained inside the can. I think I would do it that way again. The video shows the power and the potential for injury releasing the springs.

Opa! My ears are filled with the joy that is Rebetiko! Yasou Cliff!

I installed my first spring in January, 2013. Here is how I do it:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E-U7GXKZJZY

I've done a few more springs since then.

Cliff