The two sizes of the Victor smooth wood (oak and mahogany) horn that I know of are:
(1) Victor #30 - 18 1/2" diameter bell (2) Victor #41 - 22" diameter bell For reference sake, the spear-tip was at one time identified as #31 and it has a 22" diameter like the later #41 smooth sided horn. Most of the smooth oak horns that I see are the smaller #30. NOTE: I've primarily spent my time merely repairing horns sent to me and honestly haven't paid much attention to the elbow fittings or suitability for a particular machine. I agree with Jerry that the consistently random jigsaw grain choice in the smooth oak horns seems to legitimize the use of some amount of leftover scrap from production. But, just focusing on horns for a moment, the manufacturing process for the spear-tip horns would have yielded significant leftover material all by itself. In fact, there is at least as much, if not more, leftover material (i.e. total combined square footage of all scrap cuts) then is actually used in the horn. If you examine the shapes of the pieces of a spear-tip and then visualize them being cut from premium veneer sheets, there is of necessity a whole lot of wood that will be simply not get used, especially once you do a little picking and choosing of select grains (which is a definite character of a spear-tip). I've never yet built a horn from scratch, but I'll bet someone who has made several would be able to verify it. Something makes me think that this abundance of leftovers was partly a motivator of sorts to produce the smooth sided horns - maybe not. W -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of DeeDee Blais Sent: Friday, July 13, 2007 1:07 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Phono-L] Smooth Victor Horns I have enjoyed reading the postings regarding the Victor wood horns and I remember the conversation with Mike several years ago about the small smooth horns. If my memory is correct, the small smooth horns came out several years after the larger spear tip horns. (1910 comes to mind) By then, Victrolas sales were going through the roof and horn machines were selling in much smaller numbers. Since Victor manufactured their own Victrola cabinets, there must have been a tremendous quantity of scrap veneer. What better way to use scrap veneer than to use it making horns? If you look carefully at any small wood horn, it appears to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. It's even more apparent when looking at a refinished one. I have no facts to backup this theory but all the small wood horns that I have seen support the idea. I was not aware that there were two sizes of smooth horns except the large smooth horn commonly seen on School Models. The small mahogany horn on my Vic IV is the same size as the oak one on my Vic II. Happy collecting, Jerry Blais ____________________________________________________________________________ ________ Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/222 _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.oldcrank.org No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.10.4/897 - Release Date: 7/11/2007 9:57 PM
