I finished the restoration of the 1937 Rockola baseball game in just
over 300 hours, now it's back to the Seeburg H.  I have been paying
close attention to the postings about learning proper restoration
techniques; thank God I am not afraid to research and ask questions
of the more knowledgeable.  That's why I am here, and for those of you
that were able to train under one of the original masters, I am envious.
An apprenticeship program would be nice.  Maybe then I could keep from
gluing my fingers to the bellows (ha ha).

The Seeburg H was restored professionally 15 years ago by Dick Oldenberg
from Bellingham or Seattle.  He passed on about eight years ago, his
wife still maintains the collection; I'm sure you know of him.  No
improper maintenance have been done since that time.  It has been out
of service for two or three years, with the rewind problem.

I have vacuumed, dusted, cleaned, lubed, polished and upgraded all
electric components, and yes I have saved and will rebuild all original
parts.  I just don't like reed switches and the "spark" control box
with the carbide contacts -- it looks like a fire hazard.

Ken Vinen responded to my first posting about the rewind gear jumping
out and needing gears.  His reply of it being out of adjustment or
having low vacuum got me to thinking, so I put on the original tuning
roll with instructions to make sure everything else worked as intended,
and it did.

There were also some hand written notes from Dick Oldenberg about
setting the high and low vacuum, the high vacuum to be set to 20-22
(I believe the measurement unit to be "bars") but never over 25, and
the low to be set at 10 lower.  My automotive vacuum gage was not
sensitive enough but it did show me that there was no change in the
high or low.

So more thinking and then a realization that there is an electric
vacuum pump with a speed control connected to the bellows.  This can't
be original, is it?  Anyway, if the control is turned below 4 the
instrument quits playing.

I've been pondering all this for the last six weeks, so I came to the
conclusion that a valve is stuck or there is leaking in the bellows.
So today I disassembled the bellows pump, all but the fabric.  It's in
excellent shape, and I did not find any obvious problem.  Found some
particles of wood chips and dirt between wood and leather, but nothing
major.

Just how rare are these Seeburg H's, anyway?  Is there another one in
the Portland or Seattle area I could get a peak at?  Are there any
pictures or illustrations or manuals?

I found an old U-tube manometer with a 30" range at a garage sale for
three dollars, I believe it to be the correct instrument to measure the
vacuum pressure.

If any of you professional restoration shops would like a talented
trainee for a few weeks or months this winter I'm not crabbing so the
winter's open.  I'm journeyman-level competent in many related fields
and a pretty good cook, and housebroken.  Any and all responses are
appreciated.

George Atcher