Meanwhile, back on the #CylinderPlayer project. I found an Edison speed governor that turned out not to be from the same model of player (different threading for the connection with the mandrel gear) but the weights were compatible so I put them on this machine's original governor. And now things are running pretty nicely.
#RecordPlayer #Restoration

Taking a detour from my #cylinderplayer project to look at a friend's Columbia #Grafonoloa #recordplayer. The symptoms are that if you turn the crank, you get a little resistance, then a little "klunk" sound, and then it freewheels. Sounds like a spring issue. Either detatched from the shaft or broken.
I should have taken a picture of the whole player, but here's the extracted mechanism, which I brought home to look at. And an add that shows more or less the model I'm working on,
Seems to be a deluxe triple-spring one, which gives you extra-long runs on a single wind, but means there's more places to check for a break.
That ad shows a girl listening to a Grafonola on a camping trip, like a steampunk iPod. I guess you could, but these things are a bit heavier than an mp3 player!

I've been doing listening tests on the Edison Amberola 30 #CylinderPlayer I'm restoring. With just a reproducer, you can hear the recording, but not really well enough to judge playback quality. But putting the horn on and off every time you assemble and disassemble the mechanism slows things down. So, I'm using a plastic funnel as quick easy-to-stick on temporary one.

The #CylinderPlayer I've been working on runs, but the sound has an annoying warble. I thought it might be the governor, but it looks like the mandrel (the slightly conical thing the cylinders slip onto) is a little bit bent. That could make cylinders sit off-center and account for the warble.

This is odd. Edison #CylinderPlayer s have these little screws so that you can adjust the level of the reproducer (and stylus) relative to the cylinder. My original player has one, but it's missing in the one I'm fixing up now. I have no idea what size it's supposed to be. I went to a local #ACEHardware and searched all over for one that would fit.
I found one that seemed to. But it's metric! That can't be correct, can it? It fits with a little wiggle, but so does the original, actually. They were only $0.47 each, so I took some home. Cheap enough to get as an interim and toss if I find a more accurate fit later. (Would have been a low-cost shopping trip, but they have a big display of jars of honey and BBQ sauce to catch you on the way out).
I will be consulting with the masters of the cylinder player internet over this.
#RecordPlayer

Well there's my problem. Took a little twisting etc with a copy of pairs of pliers and it's working again. Whew!
That graphite/grease combo is so nice and silvery. #CylinderPlayer

Nooooo..... that sound means the spring is slipping off of the shaft and I have to take the whole #CylinderPlayer apart again to fix that :(