My Little Wonder has a winding key, not a crank. The shaft part may be original as it looks old, but the handle of the key is clearly a reproduction. The shaft has two parts, a steel inner rod approx. 3/4 in. long and 3/16 in.dia. that fits into the machine, and a surrounding brass tube that has the "slot" you describe in it. The brass is about 1.5 in. long and 1/4 in. diameter. The handle for this "key" is steel and soldered into a slot at the end. The handle was clearly fabricated by someone who did not solder it in exactly straight. I have always seen cranks on pictures of these machines, and wondered if a key type was also used originally. Ray W.
----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2003 8:48 AM Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Trying to complete my Little Wonder phonograph > I can describe the piece on the machine that the crank fits into, but not > the crank itself -- I've wondered exactly the same thing. It's a metal > sleeve that sticks out from the side of the machine about a half-inch. > There is a "slot" across that sleeve that is perpendicular to the edge on > one side and tapered on the other -- meaning that if you use the slot to > turn the sleeve in the correct direction the gears wind, and if you turn > it the wrong direction it slides right up the tapering. This slot is > about a quarter-inch deep. I've seen cranks that were shaped like keys, > and cranks that looked like regular cranks, but I've never seen an > original. All of the books I've seen that have pictures of Little Wonder > phonographs always say that the cranks shown are not original. > > I had a crank made by Charlie Weatherbee that has a small length of metal > at the tip to fit in the sleeve for stability, and then has a "nail" > across the crank to fit into the slots. > > Merle > > On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 23:31:44 -0500 "Ron L'Herault" <[email protected]> > writes: > > Can anyone provide me with a description of what an original little > > wonder crank looks like? ID, OD, thread size, etc? > > > > Ron L > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] > > [mailto:[email protected]] > > On Behalf Of [email protected] > > Sent: Friday, November 28, 2003 5:13 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: [Phono-L] Trying to complete my Little Wonder phonograph > > > > I may have asked on this list before -- please forgive me if I have > > (early Alzheimers... or at least that's a convenient excuse). > > > > I have had a Little Wonder phonograph for a number of years (you can > > see > > pictures on my site: > > http://www.littlewonderrecords.com/gramophone.html > > -- click on the >> at the bottom to scroll through the views). > > > > I am looking for an original crank and the thumbscrew that held the > > reproducer in place. I'd even be willing to buy an entire Little > > Wonder > > phonograph to get those parts if anyone has one they'd like to part > > with. > > > > Thanks! > > > > Merle > > _______________________________________________ > > Phono-l mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://t2.cwihosting.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Phono-l mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://t2.cwihosting.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________ > The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! > Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! > Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-l mailing list > [email protected] > http://t2.cwihosting.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com >
