Ampico Roll 2921 Project Progress Report
By Wayne Stahnke
Hi there, Dean.
I thought you would like to know the progress and status of the effort to create an exact replica roll of Ampico Roll No. 2921, "I've Got to Sing a Torch Song," for you. I was able to locate and borrow a copy of the roll, which arrived on Wednesday. I reconstructed the master roll and sent it off by modem for perforating.
The next step is to get the perforator set up for this unusual roll. During this period (around October, 1933), new Ampico popular rolls were perforated on converted Duo-Art machinery. These rolls are unusual in several respects.
First, the hole diameter is about 1.75 mm, as compared with the 2.00 mm diameter holes in "classical" Ampico rolls made with Ampico machinery.
Second, the punch advance is 384 punch steps per foot, as compared with 356 punch steps per foot. Third, the webbing pattern is of the Duo-Art variety, complete with special webbing for the melody so that the eye can follow the melody line in the paper roll as it is played.
To make an exact replica roll, we have to match all of these parameters. The punch diameter of the perforator we will use is about 1.70 mm, very close to the size used in the original roll, and does not present a problem. We will use special gears to achieve the punch advance; preliminary calculations indicate the actual advance will be 384.10 punch steps per foot, or within 0.03 percent of the target advance; this is extremely close (in fact, original rolls from the period show much more variation than this from one batch to the next). The webbing has been recreated by simply reading all of the original webbing from the original roll, so the match will be perfect, including the special webbing for the melody line.
I will keep you informed about the progress of your effort. With best regards, I remain
Sincerely Yours,
Wayne Stahnke
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(Message sent Fri 29 Mar 1996, 16:53:35 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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