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Hiya,

Finally got the chance to sit around with my friend jason who does phonograph hoarding/restoration, and we got my polly portable open. The mechanism was all gummed up with old grease, so I have taken that apart and cleaned most of it up. Unfortunately I was a little rough on the governor springs, and managed to break one of them. is there someone who makes these or supplies them still? or am I going to need to find some spring steel and fabricate new ones?

Also, I can't see how to open the can with the mainspring. there are no screws, just a really tight fitting lid that doesn't want to come off. any tips with this? Finally, is there supposed to be an e-ring/circlip type thing on the spindle to keep the platter from popping off? it was a tight taper fit that I had to press out with a hydraulic press to get loose, but there is a groove in the spindle right above where the platter would normally ride, which looks from past mechanical experience to be a place for one of these locking rings.

thanks in advance for any tips and/or help,

jon

Search for Ron Sitko. He has a large selection of restoration parts... you'll have to call him directly and tell him what you need.

Hi,

thanks for the tip. I'll try him out.

anyone know how to open this mainspring barrel?

thanks for the tip,

anyone know how to get this mainspring barrel open?

As far as I remember the mainspring barrel in mine was just as you said a tight fitting lid. I don't remember how I managed to pry it open in the end, but I don't think that there was any magical solution, just patience. There is no clip to hold down the turntable, it's just a taper fit. If I remember correctly, the governor weights are screwed to the springs so you can simply order new springs from Ron Sitko or others. Just make sure to measure them and replace both springs so the governor runs smoothly.
Not sure if you have the instructions already: http://www.oldcrank.com/reference/polly ... index.html
And here a link to a period ad from 1929: Enjoy
Andreas

thanks Alang,

I had a hell of a time getting the case open in the first place just so I could get to the guts. I actually have the brunswick parisian portable, but it is the same guts mounted in a metal case instead of in a wooden case. I had to do some serious prying to get it apart, but was able to do so in the end without damaging it. hopefully the mainspring case comes open easier. I have to figure out some way to secure and hold it while tapping around the cover to loosen it, something is bound to work out.

the instructions should prove useful, I think I found them when I first started researching this machine last summer, but in the mean time they had gotten lost.

Check the Eric Reiss book if you can find it. As I recall his way to hold the spring barrel is to clamp it in a large bench vice between two chunks of wood with notches cut in them. Then you tap off the lid with a large screwdriver and a hammer.

Once I get the centre arbor out of the spring barrel, I use a piece of strong dowel & insert it into the spring barrel, from the opposite side of "lid". With the dowel on a slight angle, it should rest against the lid to one side of the arbor hole. Holding the barrel in both hands,with my fingers on the underside (and holding the dowel in position), & with my thumbs on the lid, I gently tap the dowel on the floor, which forces the lid off.
Just go slow because you dont want the lid flying off followed by the spring inside
But unless the dowel is caught on the spring, there's very little chance it can escape the barrel. Having my thumbs on the lid to control how far it can move pretty much safe guards against this happening too.
It usually only takes 1 or 2 sharp taps of the dowel for the lid to release.

I like to use a wooden dowel, or even a copper pipe when removing the lids. I used a screw driver a couple times, until I noticed the screw driver left a score mark in the lid, which I was worried might have had an edge to grab the spring inside the barrel, and prevent free movement of the spring. It probably wouldn't, but I just think something softer than the mild steel lid is a safer alternative.

BTW: Not sure if your machine includes the instructions , but this is from the Nipperhead site & might be of interest.

http://www.nipperhead.com/old/polly01.htm

gramophoneshane wrote:Once I get the centre arbor out of the spring barrel,

I thought about this, but there was no obvious way to do that. I guess I will fiddle with it some more. otherwise, I was going to cut some semi-circular blocks of wood and clamp the whole thing and a vise and try the screwdriver trick. I was hoping maybe there was a more elegant solution, or something I had overlooked.