Many thanks, Jim, for your detailed answer. I have, and love Rene's book. It's been a while since I've paged through it so didn't recall the information on the replicas being there (or got so caught up on the history of the originals that the replica section didn't stay in mind . I probably last read the book through in 2002.
Though I'm in New Mexico and the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting is in Minnesota, I hope to visit there again before too long and it would be nice to operate their replica with Curator Steve Raymer. They do a lot of educational outreach and have lots of school groups that come through, and a demonstration of their tin foil machine could be a great part of that program. The park ranger at the ENHS who was present when I tried the Kruesi replica in their demonstration room was very surprised that I was able to get such a loud, articulate result. He hadn't heard that replica perform so well, even though most visitors shouted into it louder. I can only imagine that most operators either engaged the recording stylus too lightly (so the recorded indentations are very shallow) or too deep (so the recording diaphragm excursion is limited by the stylus bottoming the foil into the groove on the drum), OR, they set the playback stylus too shallow (so only a fraction of the total depth of the undulations engage the playback diaphragm), or too deep (thus flattening the delicate, recorded foil undulations to the bottom of the drum groove), or some combination of these less than optimal settings. To say nothing of speed and steadiness, so the styli remain in maximum compliance with the foil at all times. I'm just noticing the plans for the Kreusi replica now, near the back of Rene's book, which appear to be related to the Edison's staff blueprints that you mentioned, although with a slightly later date. I'm hoping to create an opportunity to fabricate a fairly faithful example of this machine in the not too distant future. I had the Gillette plans in another book but hadn't realized that I had these too, in Rene's book. So thank you very much for bringing my attention 'round to this volume! Andrew Baron Santa Fe On May 17, 2012, at 1:34 AM, Jim Nichol wrote: > The foremost authority in the world on tinfoil phonos is Rene Rondeau. Also, > I think Rene is the only person who has arranged for any tinfoil to be made > in the last 60 years or so. I know he's arranged at least 2 production runs > at great expense. I believe the majority of it went to the Henry Ford Museum > and the Smithsonian for their tinfoil demos. The rest was made available to > collectors, and may still be available. I bought some in both rolls and cut > sheets. > > Rene wrote the authoritative book on the subject called Tinfoil Phonographs > in 2001. I can't imagine any phono collector not buying a copy, so you will > probably want to buy one from Rene. It also mentions some of the replica > makers. Edison's staff made blueprints of the Kruesi in 1928-1930. When I > visited the West Orange Lab in about 1967, their gift shop sold me a bound > copy of the blueprints, with a color picture of the Kruesi original on the > cover. Most or all of the replicas would have been based on these prints > (including the extra holes in the base). Rene says the Ptacek and Stehlik > replicas are even more accurate than the blueprints, base on study of the > original machine. > > My replica Kruesi tinfoil phono was made by Elmer Jones. His name is cast > into the cast iron base (on the bottom). Rene's book said the Elmer produced > about 15 replicas in the 1960's, but I bought mine from Elmer at Union for > $500 (I think around 1980). Elmer told me he planned a run of about 10 Kruesi > machines, but he didn't say if mine was the first of 10. I think it was. I > was astounded that that machine was for sale all day Saturday, and no one > bought it until I did in mid-afternoon! > > Bill Ptacek made 25 replicas, and Mirek Stehlik made 30, according to the > book. Bill's are marked WCP with a date on the bottom, and Mirek's are > unmarked, but have a serial number stamped on the end of the main shaft, says > the book. > > When I was at the Henry Ford Museum in 2009, I visited the Menlo Park > complex. After watching a woman play a tinfoil recording on an original > Bergmann/Edison phono, I asked her if she knew that Rene Rondeau supplied her > with the tinfoil. She said "that name sounds familiar". She opened the > drawer in the table that the phono was sitting on, and pulled out a copy of > Rene's book! I said "that's him!". > > Jim Nichol > > On May 17, 2012, at 1:02 AM, Andrew Baron wrote: > >> I know this has been covered here before, but I'm seeking a little knowledge >> for the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting, that they might know more about a >> beautiful reproduction Kreusi replica (part of the Jack Mullin Collection), >> and where to source the soft tin foil appropriate for demonstrating that >> machine. >> >> I noticed that their replica tin foil phonograph has the faithfully >> recreated details in the base, like the oblong "prior use" holes in the >> base, as per the authentic Kreusi phonograph at the ENHS. I'm aware that a >> number of replicas were made by at least two or three individuals and wonder >> how to determine the origin of this one. As I recall there might be an >> identifying mark or limited serial number on the bottom? >> >> And as noted above, where does one obtain the foil? >> >> Thanks in advance for any assistance with these questions. >> >> Andrew Baron >> Santa Fe > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.org > _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
