Edison B-80

Tabletop

Diamond Disk Player

This machine was obtained in early Feb 2008 for a paltry $20. When you see it you will likely think that even at that modest sum they must have seen me coming. Perhaps so, but it is my most challenging project yet. PLUS it has some serious history. It belonged to an Edison "jobber" or dealer who used it to demo new records to prospective buyers. Today, when we want to buy a new CD or hopefully buy an MP3, we first likely hear it on the radio. However at the time this machine was made, 1912 or 1913, there was no organized commercial radio. Even when radio came around the big phonograph tycoons like Edison or Eldridge Johnson of Victor viewed radio as a competitive threat instead of as a new untapped sales tool and missed that great chance. Back then there were listening studios where people went when a new record was desired. Some jobbers took phonographs them with them to showcase new records. Here was one of the phonographs used for that purpose. I purchased it from the same person who had the rare "Greetings From Orange" listed on the Edison music download page along with a ton of records of just about every variety and make available in the teens. 

The B-80 was a very early inexpensive table top, but in it's defense, it was not the cheapest. The motor is quite unlike the standard Edison motor, and has a belt drive to run the turn table since positioning it directly under the turntable would have interfered with the horn. The horn is smaller than other DD machines I have seen, but it still puts out. It had little acceptance at first, but later sales improved somewhat. It was never a stellar seller and only lasted until early 1914, which was a short run for Edison. Any Edison tabletop machine is not really rare today, but seldom seen. All in all, for a table top it is much more attractive than many table tops I have seen.

One note about the B-80. Since it does not have the lifting arm that other Edison DD machines have, I wondered how the tone arm worked on these. After having obtained this one I now know. There is a knob on the back of the tone arm that rotates to lift the arm. This is not the best design since it makes the tone arm less stable and holding the front of the arm is necessary to keep the arm from scratching all over the record. There is much that is wanting in this machine in it's engineering, but since it was a very early design that was not kept, it can be forgiven.

The project has just begun. A few photos of it's present deplorable condition are available below. You can see it was a disassembled mess, but the good thing is the bozo who took it apart kept all the pieces in zip lock bags, even the shards from the broken grill. It was apparently disassembled in an attempt to fix the broken spring, and the governor shaft was broken in the process. Fortunately I had a governor shaft already. I also discovered the main spring is not a standard size, so I will have to go hunting for one. Here are a few pics taken when I first got it home as a "before" documentation.

Update: 29 June 2008: I actually am no further along on it than I was due to some unforeseen personal difficulties and the fact that almost no one could supply me with a spring measuring 1 1/16 X .032 X 20 feet pear shaped opening. But at this time I have found a supplier for the main spring and thus I am redirecting my attention to it. The supplier is the highly respected Ron Sitko at 518-371-8549, who is recommended even by his own competitors which is how I found about his business. He does not advertise, but his business is by recommendation. 

Update: 2 September 2008. While in Louisville last week, I happened across a B-80, and being surprised to see one in captivity, decided it is high time to resurrect mine. Wednesday 27 August I sent away for the main spring and crank from Ron Sitko, whom I must say has very good prices so I bought a few other things from him too. When the package arrives I will begin the mechanical work. 

The finish is too far gone to do anything with. I tried to remove the buildup with denatured alcohol, but the results are too uneven to be useful since some of the wood is rotten and will have to be replaced. 

Update: 8 September 2008. The spring and other items arrived today. Pretty fast shipping! 

Update: 10 September 2008. I got the spring in the barrel and the rest of the motor together tonight. Who knows how many decades have passed since it last purred under it's own power. All that is left is the refinishing and as Jacky Gleason used to say, "And awaaaaaaay we goooooo." Thanks Ron, just in case you come across this page!

Update: 16 September 2008. I decided to get it going before the refinish of the cabinet. If it did not work well, there would be little point in refinishing the cabinet. I put the motor in, made a few adjustments, put on the belt, wound it up, and she played like a dream!

Update: 1 October 2008. I was temporarily unable to get the OEM refinishing items I needed, so I made the mistake of trying a short cut by going to Sherwin Williams paint store on Lafayette road in Indianapolis for them to mix the stain. Major mistake. The bozo (who is somehow a manager) made up some concoction that looked and felt like latex primer which was still rubbing off three days later. Now I am stripping the hood again, although it is easier this time since it almost comes off with a pencil eraser. Yes I did get a refund but I wish I could have made that incompetent fool remove that junk for me. The only good thing that came of it was another person there told me where to find the shellac. With that in hand I have sent off to APSCO for the powder stain and it should be arriving this week. Here are a few pre-stain photos. The grill was really rotten, discolored and warped. I fear the stain will not sink in in the same manner that it will the rest of the wood.

Final Update: 17 October 2008 Thank God it is done. What an amazing application of Murphy's law . I have never had more trouble with anything that was not a car than I have had with this thing. But at least it is behind me, and if the lights are low it doesn't look too bad. As I had feared, the grill stained a little differently than the rest.

Below it is in it's more permanent location on the loft with it's other phonograph friends. This shot is to give the detail of the wood grain in the hood, and it most accurately reflects the true color of the stain. It is nearly impossible to tell that the grill was in several pieces, unless you are really looking. The lighting is not the best in this room, which helps.

Below shows an effect I was trying to create with the tone arm. I wanted a candy swirl and largely accomplished it. The photo does not give it justice. Compare it to the pre-restoration rusted appearance in the third photo from the top above. A little detail work on the connector is in the offing.

So there you go. Am I happy with it? Not one hundred percent. With more patients, I could have done better, and all the snafus did not help. Do I wish I had never started it? Somewhat. My daughter though made me feel better about it with the simple logic, "Well, it looks a whole lot better than it did!"

Last Final Update or Epilog 23 Jan 2009

The irony is that after all that work and expense, I may have played it fifteen or twenty times since I finished it. It now gathers dust. Think I may put it on ebay.