[Phono-L] Cylinder Mold Question...
Even if you remove the mold, you will still have the pits in the record surface. These pits greatly distort or completely erase the recordings contained in the grooves. The bottom line: Unless you find some rare or unusual recording at a low price, don't buy moldy cylinders! A little mold on the ends of the records is usually okay because little or no damage was done to the recording grooves and the record will probably be playable all the way through. In this case, I remove the mold with purified water (warmed to room temperature) and a Q-Tip swab. I use the swab to gently rub the mold off of the record surface. It's time consuming, but it works. I then dry the record thoroughly with a soft cloth. If the cotton batting in the cylinder box is contaminated with fungus, don't put the clean record back inside. Use the contaminated box for Blue Amberol or other plastic cylinders and find a clean box to store the cleaned wax cylinder in. To arrest mold growth, keep the clean cylinders in a dry place with consistent temperature. Remember, exposure to rapid extreme changes in temperature can cause rapid and uneven expansion or contraction of the wax and the cylinder can literally crumble into little pieces before your very eyes. This especially a problem with black wax 4-minute Amberol cylinders. With any wax cylinder, remember to never touch the record surface with your fingers because you may help start the fungal attack all over again. -Phil http://www.engineeringexpert.net/edphono.htm - Original Message - From: Ron L'Herault lhera...@bu.edu To: Antique Phonograph List phon...@oldcrank.com Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 7:36 AM Subject: RE: [Phono-L] Cylinder Mold Question... Rubbing alcohol will not dissolve the cylinder but it will kill the mold. Ron L -Original Message- From: phono-l-boun...@oldcrank.com [mailto:phono-l-boun...@oldcrank.com]on Behalf Of Robert Plavzic Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 7:30 AM To: phon...@oldcrank.com Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Cylinder Mold Question... Hello I once tried the fossil fuel method on a mouldy cylinder, and the result was a really clean looking shiny cylinder. Only once though because though the cylinder looked great, the *zine had dissolved the wax compound, so the cylinder was ready for re-recording! I recon Alcohol other cleaners would also with high likelyhood polish away the recording? I read somewhere that cylinders stored freely - away from the felt lining of the boxes are not so succeptible to mould eg. Concert cylinders that are held in boxes by a central core do not touch the side of the box have a greater life expectency / mould-fungus avoidance. The fungus 'eats' away at the wax, and the resulting pitting cannot be reversed. Another cleaning method to be careful with is just putting the cylinder under warm/cold water - the sudden temperature difference usually leaves 2 half cylinders (from a colleague who tried this - only once as well) I have also been told that liquid black shoe polish will at least make the cylinder look OK, but I'm not going to experiment! regards Robert PS. Some new Zonophones? on www.zonophone.netfirms.com, if anyone could please hint at the model designation It's not a mold, but rather a fungus. It pits the surface of the cylinder so the recording is destroyed even if the mold could be removed. Black wax is actually a metallic soap compound, not just wax (although it contains a couple of wax compounds). I've never exposed a cylinder to gasoline or the like, but I imagine it would be incredibly destructive to the cylinder, particularly the delicate grooves. When I have picked up cylinders with 'moldy' spots, I have applied Mycotin brand anti-fungal in sparing amounts with a cotton swab to the affected areas. I have never seen the spots go away, but my hope is to kill the fungus and stop the spread. Cylinder boxes containing moldy cylinders are also contaminated and should not be re-used for good cylinders for obvious reasons. John M - Original Message - From: Jeff Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 12:24 AM To: Antique Phonograph List Subject: [Phono-L] Cylinder Mold Question... Hi Gang... Was talking with a friend who was at an avid Edison machine/cylinder record collector's home today. They got to talking about black wax cylinder mold and this fellow suggested that you could use gasoline or kerosene on light mold to remove it. Seems that if it were that easy and safe for cylinder record that I would have heard this by now. Guess I could try it on one that is headed for the trash anyway, but I thought I'd ask you folks what you thought? Fire away... -jeff :) ___ Phono-l mailing list phon...@oldcrank.com http://t2.cwihosting.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.comGet more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
[Phono-L] Bryan and Taft Cylinders?
Jeff: I am assuming that these cylinders are wax Edisons. I looked up Edison 2 minute wax cylinders in a current record auction. I found three William Jennings Bryan cylinders listed. They are: 9915 The Labor Question 9919 The Popular Election of Senators 9923 Immortality All three are listed as mold free, in excellent condition, with original boxes and lids. 9915 and 9919 have light scratches and the minimum bid is $200 each. 9923 has no scratches and the minimum bid is $150. This auction house is very reasonable with their minimum bids, so I would assume that the going price on the street would be much higher. Apparently, even if you offered your seller $100 each, you would still be getting a huge bargain! -Phil
[Phono-L] Veteran's Day
Right, Loran. Thanks veterans! We owe our lives and freedom to you. -Phil - Original Message - From: Loran T. Hughes lo...@oldcrank.com To: phon...@oldcrank.com Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 11:04 AM Subject: [Phono-L] Veteran's Day Out here in Oregon, we celebrate Veteran's Day today (as opposed to the Fed's Monday holiday). So, thanks to you Phono-L'ers who served. If you see a Vet today, tell him/her thanks :) Loran (USAF Ret.) ___ Phono-l mailing list phon...@oldcrank.com http://t2.cwihosting.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com
[Phono-L] Edison Blue Amberol No. 3275
Thanks John. We'll check it out tonight! -Phil - Original Message - From: john robles To: pokeefe571 at ameritech.net ; Antique phonograph discussion list for pre-1930 phonographs Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 10:18 AM Subject: RE: [Phono-L] Edison Blue Amberol No. 3275 Hi Yes, I am a musician. I play piano, guitar, ukulele, Scots Highland Bagpipes, accordion, harp, and several mexican folk guitars. YOu can show your daughter my website at www.elsondelpueblo.com if she wants to see a different type of harp! I play by ear, I always had trouble learning to read music. I can read the treble line ok, but not fast enough to play an instrument from it. John Phil O'Keefe pokeefe571 at ameritech.net wrote: Thanks John. My daughter and I cannot wait to play it! By the way, are you a musician? I have no musical talent, but my daughter (she's going to be 10 next months) is a musical prodigy. She is an excellent sight reader and she plays piano, violin, and harp like an adult. She loves listening to the old records. We found the Levy sheet music collection on the internet and we can now download the music for many of our cylinders. She loves playing them on the piano! -Phil O'Keefe Visit my Chicago Tunnel Company website at: http://www.ameritech.net/users/chicagotunnel/tunnel1.html -Original Message- From: john robles [SMTP:john9ten at pacbell.net] Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2003 6:40 AM To: Phono-l at oldcrank.com Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Edison Blue Amberol No. 3275 Hi Just to let you know, I did get y! our check. I have been performing a lot this week and haven't gotten to the post office but will do so first thing Monday. I will ship via Priority Mail so you should have the record by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. Thanks again John --- Phil O'Keefe wrote: I like World War I song titles. I am currently looking for an Edison Blue Amberol entitled: 3275 - OVER THERE This was performed by Billy Murray and chorus. Does anyone out there in Phonograph Land have one that they would be willing to part with? -Phil ___ Phono-l mailing list Phono-l at oldcrank.com http://oldcrank.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com ___ Phono-l mailing list Phono-l at oldcrank.com http://oldcrank.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com
[Phono-L] Another Horn Question
-Original Message- From: Phillip Sands [SMTP:sinatrafangold at yahoo.com] Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2003 3:19 PM To: Phono-l at oldcrank.com Subject:[Phono-L] Another Horn Question I understand that you could order a Cygnet horn with flowers painted on it as an after market item from your Edison dealer in the bigger cities when these machines were popular. Has anyone ever seen one of them? I have only seen the black ones. I think they came in a dark blue also. Phil __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com ___ Phono-l mailing list Phono-l at oldcrank.com http://oldcrank.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com
[Phono-L] Phono buying in 1975...
Right you are Eric. Some of those prices were not that great. Roughly speaking, you could multiply them by a factor of four to get the prices in 2004 dollars. In 1975 I was a senior in high school and I had been in the hobby for about a year. I started out with an Edison Amberola which was given to me by a friend. I used to buy mint Popular Series Blue Amberol cylinders from a local dealer in original boxes with lids for about $2 each. Back then I thought this was a little pricey and I bought very few. Today, this price would be considered a great bargain! You could also pick up nice cabinet model Victrolas at flea markets and through newspaper ads for about $100. Usually, they would include record albums in the deal. Of course, I was just a broke teenager, and $100 back then was a lot of money. Ah, those were the days! -Phil http://www.engineeringexpert.net/edphono.htm
[Phono-L] Phono buying in 1975...
My other hobby was collecting railroad memorabilia until the prices got too far out of line. I used to go to several shows each year and I often saw this pricing mentality among the dealers. They would buy tables at the show and they would have the same, rare over-priced stuff on the tables year after year. Some of them came from far away and had a lot of stuff to cart in... but it never sold! I often wonder why they kept lugging it around from show to show if it didn't sell. What's the point? I haven't been to many phonograph shows to see if this phenomena occurs in this hobby. -Phil On 3/11/04 4:53 PM, Loran T. Hughes lo...@oldcrank.com wrote: On Thu, 2004-03-11 at 14:37, Phil O'Keefe wrote: Yeah, a lot of antique dealers are in the wrong line of business. Amen! What gets me is seeing a piece set in an antique shop for YEARS, never getting marked down, never moving. Makes you wonder what school of business they didn't graduate from. Loran
[Phono-L] ANTIQUE EDISON BROWN WAX CYLINDER RECORD made 1896
The box is in EXTREMELY good shape. The slip is very interesting. It looks like old, faded paper, but the cursive style does not seem to be right for that era. If you note, the number on the box (514) doesn't match the number on the slip. I consulted the Edison cylinder record database and I think it lists No. 504 as: TROVATORE (Giuseppe Verdi / Salvatore Cammarano), Recorded in 1902 by an unspecified orchestra. No. 514 was the Clipper March, recorded in 1897/98 by an unspecified orchestra. There is no listing for the title Anvil Chorus. If I am reading this correctly, then this cylinder may be a fraud. -Phil O'Keefe Edison Phonology http://www.engineeringexpert.net/edphono.htm On 7/3/04 3:45 AM, Steven Medved steve_nor...@msn.com wrote: http://tinyurl.com/3dd7b http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=2254654970 What do you think of this? Steve ___ Phono-l mailing list phon...@oldcrank.com http://mail.oldcrank.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com
[Phono-L] 2 Minute Education
Greg: Edison 2-minute cylinders are all made from wax. The Gold Moulded ones (made starting early 1902) are black. The earlier cylinders are brown in color and usually don't have a title printed on the end. The grooves on 2-minute cylinders are much wider than those on 4-minute wax Amberol records and 4-minute plastic Blue Amberol records. The four minute grooves are extremely fine and difficult to see. I think the 2-minute records have 100 grooves per inch and the 4-minute have 200. 2-minute cylinders are usually very hard to come by as compared to Blue Amberols. When you do find them, they are more often than not damaged by mold. If the mold coverage is severe, they are rendered unplayable. Also, the wax cylinders break very easily. Undamaged, clean wax records are often very pricey as compared to Blue Amberols. This is why you usually find 2-minute cylinder machines priced well-below their 2/4 and 4-minute cousins. -Phil O'Keefe Visit my Edison Phonograph Website http://www.engineeringexpert.net/edphono.htm On 7/6/04 9:18 PM, Greg drgr...@msn.com wrote: I have a 2 minute only Edison Standard in my collection. I recently picked up a Columbia Eagle B; also 2 minute only. I would like to purchase some additional 2 minute cylinder recordings but I am confused as to how I can distinguish them from the 4 minute records. They are not always properly identified on eBay. It's very confusing. I know that all Blue Amberols are 4 minute. I need an easy and fool-proof way to identify 2 minute records. E.g., are all Gold Moulded records 2 minute? Greg ___ Phono-l mailing list phon...@oldcrank.com http://mail.oldcrank.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com
[Phono-L] 2 Minute Education
Yes, all the 4-minute wax Amberols that I have seen have a 4M just before the record number (e.g. 4M-475 WHO WILL CARE FOR MOTHER NOW? OAKLAND AND CHORUS). Of course, Blue Amberols are some shade of blue celluloid with a plaster core. Any other cylinder should be assumed to be 2-minute. -Phil O'Keefe On 7/6/04 9:18 PM, Greg drgr...@msn.com wrote: I have a 2 minute only Edison Standard in my collection. I recently picked up a Columbia Eagle B; also 2 minute only. I would like to purchase some additional 2 minute cylinder recordings but I am confused as to how I can distinguish them from the 4 minute records. They are not always properly identified on eBay. It's very confusing. I know that all Blue Amberols are 4 minute. I need an easy and fool-proof way to identify 2 minute records. E.g., are all Gold Moulded records 2 minute? Greg ___ Phono-l mailing list phon...@oldcrank.com http://mail.oldcrank.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com ___ Phono-l mailing list phon...@oldcrank.com http://mail.oldcrank.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com ___ Phono-l mailing list phon...@oldcrank.com http://mail.oldcrank.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com
[Phono-L] Main Spring breakage
Steve: I thought about something like that, but the barrel on my Standard D has a round metal plate that covers the spring on the open end. I thought about leaving the cover off, but I didn't like the idea of omitting original parts. I am beginning to think that the little hole in the back of the barrel was there to enable one to use a tool to push the spring coils in as I did to get the spring to hook. I often wondered what that was for. By the way, this was a replacement spring that I installed in the machine about 14 years ago. It came already tightly coiled up to fit the barrel. After removing the broken spring, all I had to do was push the new spring down in the barrel and clip the bailing wire to allow it to unwind and hook the barrel. I had no trouble getting it to hook the winding shaft. The new spring that I have is not tightly coiled and it requires feeding into the barrel, making replacement that much more of a hassle. I am glad I did not have to do that this time! I guess Sean is right. If you can, just send your spring barrel out to a reputable repair person. Spring repair is messy, dangerous, and often frustrating, especially if you have low mechanical aptitude. -Phil On 7/24/04 11:05 PM, Steven Medved steve_nor...@msn.com wrote: Hi Phil, I have had a spring that would not catch on my Standard D I used a rag to compress the spring end to get it to start, pulled it out when it started, and did not let it unwind. Steve I reassembled the machine, but I just could not get the spring to catch on the hook on the winding shaft. ___ Phono-l mailing list phon...@oldcrank.com http://mail.oldcrank.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com
[Phono-L] Main Spring breakage
Ron: On my Standard D and Amberola DX, the gears look like some sort of soft steel. They are pressed on to hard steel shafts. These shafts fit in bearings in the gearbox sides. On my Standard, the end of the shaft on the idler apparently sheared off some time ago, but there was enough left in the bearing to keep the gear in place. I say this because the broken end of the shaft was polished. It was the weirdest thing. I inspected the shafts on the other gears and they look fine. I'll have to take my DX apart soon to inspect its gear shafts. It's been getting rather noisy lately and it looks like one of the gears is wobbling a little. If that one lets go, grease is going to come flying out of all the vent holes in the top grille and I may not be so lucky with regard to gear damage. -Phil On 7/24/04 10:55 PM, Ron L'Herault lhera...@bu.edu wrote: On Homes, often it is a small brass gear that splits and lets things unwind violently if it is fully wound. Ron
[Phono-L] cataloging software for 78s
It's not freeware, but I catalog all of my records in MS Excel. -Phil - Original Message - From: David Ridgeway dridg...@bellsouth.net To: phon...@oldcrank.com Sent: Monday, January 19, 2004 1:36 PM Subject: [Phono-L] cataloging software for 78s My computer crashed (again) and once more I must ask for recommendation of software (preferably freeware) that will allow me to catalog my 78s. Those of you who have extensive stores of 78s (I don't) may use card cataloging but I would rather compile my database in a digital form that can be shared with other collectors. Any help is appreciated. Best Regards, David Ridgeway ___ Phono-l mailing list phon...@oldcrank.com http://t2.cwihosting.com/mailman/listinfo/phono-l_oldcrank.com
