The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I’m restoring my first phonograph; it’s a Sonora wind-up portable from the early 1940’s. I have removed the springs from both spring barrels, degreased/cleaned them, and packed them back in the barrels with new grease. One of the two barrels has the spring shaft firmly attached to the spring. I can hold the two barrels together and the exterior portion of the spring shaft (that’s sticking out of the first barrel) easily goes through the center of the coiled spring in the second barrel. However, the spring clip on the shaft doesn’t connect with the end of the spring in the second barrel, so the two barrels just spin freely relative to each other.

How do I get the clip on the spring shaft to “bite” the spring in the second barrel?

Thanks!
—Solenoid

Surely you'll have to open the barrel of the rebel spring and bend the center with pliers to be sure that the arbor catches in the spring

Inigo wrote: Thu Nov 21, 2024 12:40 pm Surely you'll have to open the barrel of the rebel spring and bend the center with pliers to be sure that the arbor catches in the spring

Right. As Inigo suggests, you need to close down the curl at the center of the spring so that it wraps closely around the shaft.

That’s exactly what I did and it was a lot easier than I expected - thanks!

Next you'll have to do its to play a nice record and send us a video snippet!