•Hello MMDer's -- A while back, Nancy Fratti started a thread going about electroplating small parts. Recently I found some information for some sources for doing this at home using supplies available from the sources listed below. I had originally suggested using electroless nickel thinking that th...

•My significant other has been making custom jewelry now for about 15 years. We were discussing another of our favorite hobbies (mechanical music stuff) and the conversation turned to those once nice-looking cast plates that grace reproducing grand drawers and other pieces that were made of pot meta...

•Response to Lelland Fletcher looking for Reginaphone parts: You don't mention if you have a 15" or a 12" Reginaphone, but, ... I have the horn/bracket/tone arm combination that came from a Columbia phonograph, which is the type used on Reginaphones. While the bracket on mine is from a back-mount ph...

•Hello, I'm not sure if the title is correct but Nancy Fratti gave me this e-mail address and said it was a music box discussion group. It is possible that I didn't get it right and that it is really a mech- anical music discussion group. In either event, I would like to join the group. I collect an...

•John Tuttle Wrote: > I was always under the impression that the pistons were made of a > carbon compound. The book calls the substance Delrin. ... And the > contact bar was supposedly coated with gold for long life and minimum > corrosion. I stand corrected. The pistons were sort of soft like rubbe...

•Hoyt metal is a two-ply metal "laminate" used in the manufacture of pipe organs. It is basically a tin coating over a substrate of an inexpensive grade of pipe metal (lead, antimony, and tin). Builders use it to get a better appearance than could be had with the inexpensive pipe metal alone. Dave V...

•I just finished building new shafts for xylophone beaters. They are made from drill rod. I handled them with powder but I handled them a lot so they will probably still try to rust. Since they flex, a hard finish (Lac), probably won't last long. I have swabbed piano strings with Hoppe's (gun barrel...

•Bill Meyer wrote: > My local pneumatics rebuilder is seeking help in obtaining two > turning levers (modify and repeat) for an Ampico grand. The easiest way I have found to replace these when they're missing or broken, is to borrow a pair in good condition (or take them off my own piano) and have a...

•We have been very successful with cleaning piano action parts using a glass bead blasting system. We use a very small glass bead. With proper control of air pressure and distance to target we can clean and reactivate damper felts or remove rust and corrosion, and even old plating. All parts of the ...

•Hi -- I was referred to you by John Tuttle. I have a problem. I need to locate a buyer for a ca. 1927 Chickering baby grand in semi-art case with an Ampico "A" before the end of February. Although I am in Florida, the piano is in Hillsboro, Oregon (near Portland). I have found some piano dealers th...

•Greetings all; regarding Dave Smith's posting on tuning pins, blued or plated [000520 MMD]. I am currently a restringing fool right now and thought I would share this with the rest of you. I am restringing a Weber Pianola (1909 art case), a Howard Manualo (1920-ish) with blued pins as original. The...

•Wayne Finger wrote: > It appears to be pressed or soldered into a brass holder which pivots > on the bottom of the reproducer weight. I've thought about heating > it with a torch, pressing it out through the little hole in the back > or drilling it out. I have come across this subject before and I ...

•Dear Friends, I am in the process of restoring a Seeburg VL200 jukebox for a customer. The customer wanted to have as much chrome plated as possible. I complied with his wishes and sent, amongst other things, the frame which goes around the large front glass. All items were returned with good chrom...

•My old piano tuner, who died at the age of 93 a few years ago, used to clean strings by rubbing up and down them with an old fashioned ink eraser. That really only provides a temporary fix as they are likely to corrode again with damp and time. The other problem is that, in my experience, steel pia...

•We recently have had a flurry of inquiries as to what these missing coin-slide and interior coin-catchers look like, the latest being yesterdays thread by Mathew Caulfield on behalf of Don Naples. For some years now, we've been making and supplying the reproduction 5-cent Regina coin slides (#55 on...

•Last year I purchased a Seeburg "L" that had seen better days. Aside from damage incurred in the move, the poor thing suffered water damage and much abuse from a series of "repairs" carried out by a collection of folks, unskilled physically and mentally. After a long search, I luckily found Bob Bil...

•Well, Larry, it's me again. Here's what I do when I need to match old screws. First, I go through my boxes of old screws to see if I can find a match. If they are old manufactured screws, that sometimes works. Second, I go to the store and buy some new screws of the correct size. I try to get some ...

•I have made several sets of bells and discussed the matter with Don Stinson, who has made a great many. He tells me that ordinary cold rolled steel is as good as anything. I cut them a hair oversize and then have the ends milled to give a nice appearance. Then I tune them a few cents sharp to give ...

•Hey Joel, I agree shining up screws is time consuming operation. It seems that the cosmetics takes as much time as that technical rebuilding process. The setup I use for cleaning screws is a double-spindle buffing 3450 rpm motor. On one side I have a fine brass wire brush wheel for doing the small ...

•The best way to reproduce the original slotted round head wood screws look I have found is to buy regular slotted head round screws then go to Kmart or Wal-Mart and buy a bottle of _gun bluing solution._ I order my screws in bulk from www.mcmaster.com They will have _all_ the sizes you would need. ...