The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

What is the way to get the spring barrel apart on a Grafonola four spring motor? The motor is in a k2 model, and I believe is original. I need to clean out the old grease out of the springs and pack with new.

I'm not sure about yours, but the Grafonola I have is of the "cookie tin" variety. If you remove the center arbor and slowly tap all around the "lid" with a screwdriver or other tool from the inside, it will usually come off. Pictures of your spring barrels might help someone else assist you.

Ok thanks. I'll post some pictures but in the mean time I'll describe it. The spring assembly in mine looks like four tuna cans stacked and secured together to form a cylinder. The two center cans are coupled together with one lid. The two outer cans have their own lids. I succeeded in getting the assembly apart by using a blunt punch to drive off the lid of the center cans. I was very gentle and worked my way around each can go keep the lids coming off evenly so not to warp or distort them. I also marked all of the parts before disassembling. It went smooth. I cleaned and repacked one of the springs. Only three more to go.

This will help https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceaCEl4W1QQ&t=32s

While we're on the subject, how loud were the Columbia machines like this one supposed to be (Grafonola K2)? I'm running a soft needle with the doors fully closed, and the volume levels are still massive. The reproducer gaskets have been replaced, and the fulcrum adjusted with no rattles or buzzing. I finally shoved a cotton ball into the reproducer to muffle it, which worked.

Here is a picture of the spring assembly for the grafonola K2.

CR220 wrote:While we're on the subject, how loud were the Columbia machines like this one supposed to be (Grafonola K2)? I'm running a soft needle with the doors fully closed, and the volume levels are still massive. The reproducer gaskets have been replaced, and the fulcrum adjusted with no rattles or buzzing. I finally shoved a cotton ball into the reproducer to muffle it, which worked.

That particular reproducer they come with is very loud. I did a D-2 not so long ago and it was thunderous with medium tone needles, and comparable to a full-sized cabinet machine with soft-tone. Glad your rebuild went OK! Sometimes it doesn't work so great.

The needle chuck is triangular so you could get into bamboo or fiber needles and probably get a little more peace & tranquility without resorting to a cotton ball, but if that's working for you, thanks for the tip. I have an old Columbia horn phonograph that might get that just to quell the volume.

Thanks for the information. The cotton ball was inserted into the reproducer completely filling the hole and touching the sound bar nut on the diaphragm. I cut a small wedge shaped piece of rubber and placed it on the outside between the diaphragm and the sound bar. Both of these together mellowed the sound way out. I was careful not to apply pressure on the diaphragm. The cotton and the rubber were barely touching the diaphragm enough to hang on without vibrating or adding much weight.

That looks like the spring barrels on my Columbia BGT which need to be redone. I guess I'll need to eat my Wheaties and get a good nights sleep before I tackle that one.

Jim

Thats never a bad idea, but I will say that mine wasn't that bad. My machine had lots of wow when I got it. I figured that it had old grease binding up the springs, which turned out to be the wrong assumption. When I got the springs apart, I saw that they had no grease. The only thing I could figure is perhaps someone before me had opened them and removed the old grease but never replaced with new. When I got the springs out, I removed them an inch at a time by holding the barrel in my left hand and working the spring out with my right. I kept the rest of the spring held securely during the process with the barrel pointing away from me. I know some like to pry out the center of the spring into a bucket releasing it all at once, but I never liked this method. When I reassembled, I reversed what I did to remove the spring, and it worked fine.