The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

So I’ve recently collected two phonographs from my grandmother’s basement, my late grandfather bought them with hopes to repair them, as it stands, they’re both very broken. I was under the impression that they simply lack some gears or other parts, but upon looking on the inside of the casting the machine is basically gutted, with just the speed control dial on both. The phonograph in better condition has a cylinder adhered to its mandrel, it won’t come off and is all cracked on the inside. Both of the castings are entirely rusted in the inside, along with other problems, the hand crank is also missing from both. I also found a bag of parts on a second visit to my Grandma’s house. While I have found the parts to repair them online, I’d like to clean them up first, but I don’t know how, any recommendations on how to polish them up?

Why don't you post photos of everything you have maybe after you done another search of your grandmother's. You mentioned two machines. Are both Gems? I don't wish to discourage you but finding Gem parts is much more difficult than parts for a Standard or Home.

Jerry B.

I agree with Jerry! Post some photos of all of the parts and of the other phonograph so we can give you some answers after having seen everything you have found.

Mike Sorter
Riverside, CA

Jerry B. wrote: Sat Feb 15, 2025 8:00 pm Why don't you post photos of everything you have

Sure, I took plenty of photos, just didn’t want to clutter the first post.

As you can see, I have the governor, one of the wheels the belt would sit on, a bunch of gears, and a clock spring? My grandfather worked on clocks so at first I believed it was a clock part but I’ve seen Edison gem parts that look similar.

“ . . . wheels the belt would sit on . . . “ = ‘pulley’

You pretty much have the whole motor, but in pieces. You also have some unrelated clock parts thrown in, just to make your puzzle more interesting.

JohnM wrote: Sun Feb 16, 2025 3:42 am “ . . . wheels the belt would sit on . . . “ = ‘pulley’

Yeah I knew that, but I was concerned for some reason I was wrong and didn’t wanna use the wrong terminology, weird how that works huh.

Any tips on how to clean and maintain the casing and wooden case it came in? Someone said to use a wood oil, but with wood this old I’m not sure if that’s the right choice, I’m not exactly the most knowledgeable about this kind of stuff, but I do want to dust them keep them clean.

Not sure why the photos are displaying as sideways