The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I spotted this on an Edison Home, currently on eBay. The drive pulley setscrew has been removed and a spring wire added, similar to what you would see in an Edison Opera. Has anyone seen the use of a "cushion spring" such as this on a Home before? Could it have been a short lived factory item? Would it have even been beneficial?

The Opera version...

I'd bet that the pulley swelled (as these often do) and the set screw would no longer bite the arbor. In order to secure the pulley, someone drilled a hole through both arbor and pulley and inserted a finishing nail.

George P.

It does look like a nail with the head on the bottom of the pully. I would think that would be cheaper to use on the pully than the set screw but you could not adjust or align the belt to the top pully.