Greetings:

Thanks to Marc Kaufmann, Craig Brougher, Darrell Clarke and others who
have responded to the question of electrical and chemical safety in
general, and to my query regarding the Seeburg knife switch in
particular. I thoroughly agree that fire and personal safety
considerations rank a whole lot higher than authenticity and
originality.

I had failed to mention that the knife switch in question was brought to
my attention by the owner of the nickelodeon I was working on. The coin
slot was damaged, and the step-switch was non-functional, so all on-off
operations were being done by hand. I was watching the owner start the
machine by flicking the coin-switch with his finger when he suddenly
yanked his hand back - a small bite. He just grinned, said he was used
to it. Well, I'm not, and I don't want to be. The discovery that the
whole metal step-switch platform was momentarily electrically hot every
time the switch went through shut-off raised a few hairs on the back of
my neck. There is also the pertinent question of liability if I do
extensive repairs on the instrument and then it either burns his house
down, electrocutes him, or both.

I'll pursue Craig and Darrell's suggestions regarding relays and micro-
switches. If I can come up with something elegant, I'll go public.

Cheers

Doug Rhodes¶
Victoria, British Columbia¶
CANADA