FOUND: Horn and rubber tubing for Columbia BC Graphophone

[FellowCollector]

Trying to complete a Columbia BC Graphophone.

I need a horn with a larger diameter (approx 1" small end) that will connect to the Higham reproducer using the (also needed! rubber tubing connector).

I also need to find the correct size rubber tubing to connect the Higham reproducer to the horn.

Well, I spent the good part of the day calling all kinds of local hardware stores and plumbing supplies stores asking if they carry supple 1" (slightly larger - actually 1 ⅛") inside diameter rubber hose by the foot for connecting the Higham reproducer throat to a (still to be found) horn for the BC.

Every place I called has nice stiff VINYL tubing...uh, no thanks...and especially clear vinyl tubing. And almost every place asked me "WHY in the world do you want RUBBER tubing in this day and age? Vinyl is much better. Me: "It's for an early phonograph to connect a horn." Them: {silence}. I finally tried a few auto parts stores and an Advance Auto Parts guy says "Yep...we got the 1" I.D. rubber tubing by the foot...". YES!! THANKS!! I drove over pronto and bought 2 feet in case I messed up. It was only a couple of dollars a foot. Got it home, tried to fit it on the Higham throat. No luck. Diameter still too small and rubber pretty stiff too. Oh boy...

Any help with either of these would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Doug

[Curt A]

"Diameter still too small and rubber pretty stiff too. Oh boy..."

If you have a heat gun and the fit is close, try heating the tubing before pushing it on the reproducer. This has worked for me on other projects... If you manage to get it on, leave it for awhile and it should retain the new sizing. Good luck, hope it works for you.

[phonogfp]

The original horn on my BC slips right over the tube of the Higham reproducer. No rubber tubing needed.

George P.

[FellowCollector]

Thanks for the helpful comments! I've also received a couple of useful PM's that I may consider.

If you have a heat gun and the fit is close, try heating the tubing before pushing it on the reproducer.

Thanks for that suggestion, Curt. I do have a heat gun and I may try that. Since the rubber tubing I bought from Advance Auto Parts is fairly thick (and sort of stiff since the tubing walls are quite thick) I had also thought about (and some may laugh at this!) cutting an appropriate section of the tubing and mounting it in a vise above a drill press and carefully drilling with a 1 ⅛" twist drill bit through the current 1" hole thereby expanding it to the size I need for the Higham throat. Seems crazy to go to those lengths just for a horn to reproducer connector though.

The original horn on my BC slips right over the tube of the Higham reproducer. No rubber tubing needed.

Holy smokes, George! I'm stunned! I would love to see a picture of your horn and that connection if possible. Presuming your horn is not a light weight aluminum type that rides along with the reproducer on the carriage (or has a swiveling end on the horn like that on a Tiz-It) it seems like a direct metal to metal connection from the Higham reproducer throat to a large (crane required) horn would bind the carriage during play of a cylinder. I'm very interested to see how this works!

For now, I have to run out to get my wife a Valentine's Day card! Yikes, I forgot to get one!

Doug

[edisonclassm]

Years ago at Union, Randy allowed me into a workshop at the museum where they must have repaired phonographs and had parts from Clarence Ferguson's stuff. There I observed an original fossilized rubber connector used to connect the horn for a BC. Being that the rubber was not very thick, it had collapsed into a flat hardened state. I wish I had asked if I could buy or have it to preserve for the future but I didn't unfortunately. I have found that The BC's used three different style horns. The large 56" all brass horn. The Hawthorne and Sheble flower horn and the not so common all aluminum 36" horn often seen on the Columbia AY disc machine. Years ago at Union you would see them loose from the machine and at the time I wondered why a horn on a disc machine had a hanger loop for a crane? The answer to my question came when i found a BC in the wild from the original owners with the 36" aluminum horn found usually on the AY. Mystery solved. Another interesting curiosity is when you see original illustrations of the BC sporting a smaller 14-16" style brass bell horn. I'm wondering if they might have used the smaller AK, AJ style horns on the BC as well.

[phonogfp]

Holy smokes, George! I'm stunned! I would love to see a picture of your horn and that connection if possible. Presuming your horn is not a light weight aluminum type that rides along with the reproducer on the carriage (or has a swiveling end on the horn like that on a Tiz-It) it seems like a direct metal to metal connection from the Higham reproducer throat to a large (crane required) horn would bind the carriage during play of a cylinder. I'm very interested to see how this works!

Doug, this one is equipped with a 56" brass horn, as you can see. The horn overlaps the reproducer by ½" - ¾". I took shots showing the horn's position on the reproducer at both extremes of travel. As long as the floor crane is positioned to apply a very slight pressure to the reproducer, it has worked fine for me since 2002.

George P.

[FellowCollector]

That's a pretty sweet looking BC and horn, George. Thanks for sharing the pics! I bet it sounds fantastic.

I have found that The BC's used three different style horns. The large 56" all brass horn. The Hawthorne and Sheble flower horn and the not so common all aluminum 36" horn often seen on the Columbia AY disc machine. Years ago at Union you would see them loose from the machine and at the time I wondered why a horn on a disc machine had a hanger loop for a crane? The answer to my question came when i found a BC in the wild from the original owners with the 36" aluminum horn found usually on the AY. Mystery solved. Another interesting curiosity is when you see original illustrations of the BC sporting a smaller 14-16" style brass bell horn. I'm wondering if they might have used the smaller AK, AJ style horns on the BC as well.

Thanks for sharing that interesting story and the useful information, Paul.