| Digest Nr | Subject, Author, Snippet |
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| 2002.01.04.01 |
Repair of Mechanical Singing Bird
from Marvin Polan •The trademark mentioned is that of Karl Griesbaum. The company is still in business and is now owned by Siegfried Wendel. They have been in business for over 75 years. They still manufacture "Bird Boxes", "Birds in a cage" and "Whistlers" (a similar product wherein persons are pictured with their l... |
| 2002.01.04.02 |
Repair of Mechanical Singing Bird
from Joerg Wendel •Hello! The cage Ms. Kay's father-in-law has is a old Griesbaum Birdcage. This type of birdcage is still made today by our company in Germany. The problem she describes sounds to me like a broken bellows, a problem every collector of mechanical music is familiar with. If there is someone in the Nort... |
| 2002.01.04.03 |
Repair of Mechanical Singing Bird
from James Jelinek •In regard to the mechanical bird music box. I have worked on many of these little bird cages over the years. I have mostly replaced bellows on them and done small mechanical work. I have had good results if the unit is complete and the gear works are okay. Generally the repairs for bellows and oili... |
| 2002.08.24.02 |
Repairing German Singing Bird Bellows
from Norman Gibson •I have a small German single singing bird in a cage in need of new rubber bellows. Can anyone lead me to a source? I contacted Ray Lins (MBSI) and he sent me to the clock parts catalog at http://www.slarose.com/ I could not find anything like I am looking for. About five years ago I found another o... |
| 2002.08.25.02 |
Repairing German Singing Bird Bellows
from Bob Loesch •Norm Gibson wrote in 020824 MMDigest: > I have a small German single singing bird in a cage in need > of new rubber bellows. Can anyone lead me to a source? Black Forest Imports at http://www.blackforestimports.com/ has the parts for these unique mechanics. They have a large stock of parts for othe... |
| 2002.11.27.02 |
Seek Bellows for Singing Bird Musical Box
from wausey@aol.com •-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- I am in need of bellows material for the small singing music box. According to the man that is repairing mine, the thickness has to be 5/1000th to 8/1000th thickness. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks George |
| 2002.11.28.01 |
Bellows for Singing Bird Musical Box
from Craig Smith •Hello, Although I can't be sure from your brief description, I suspect that the material you need is zephyr cloth. Most restoration supply places carry it. Regards, Craig Smith P.S.: Just a suggestion -- What if you took your car to a repair shop and they told you it needed a new tire. You said, "O... |
| 2002.11.28.02 |
Bellows for Singing Bird Musical Box
from Vincent Morgan •Dear George, Bellows material may be purchased from any clock supply house. The four main ones in the US are - Merritt's Antiques (www.merritts.com) has it for $4.25. Item no. P-1432 - Time Savers (www.timesavers.com) has two types. paper, which is used in most cuckoo clocks today, item no. 20168, ... |
| 2002.11.29.01 |
Bellows for Singing Bird Musical Box
from Jere Ryder •Responding to the Small Bird Box Bellows repair question: If your "small singing music box" is of snuff box size (approx. 2.5" x 3.5" x 1.5" height) and the pop-up variety, then the manufacturer most likely was using a "zephyr" skin material for the bellows covering, along with 6 paper gussets atta... |
| 2002.11.29.02 |
Bellows for Singing Bird Musical Box
from Bob Loesch •Hello George. The advice given here by Mr. Morgan, and also by Craig Smith, is quite correct for the older singing-bird boxes, but not for the newer boxes, which use neoprene discs instead of wooden bellows. I believe that the neoprene discs are available from Black Forest Imports, and possibly oth... |
| 2003.06.25.02 |
Books on Singing Bird Musical Boxes
from Michael Start •Hi Steve, There are two books that will give you lots of information on singing bird boxes, including those by Rochat. These are: "Singing Bird Tabatieres", by Geoffrey Mason, and "Flights of Fancy", by Sharon and Christian Bailey, which includes a CD ROM. The Mason book can be difficult to find bu... |
| 2003.11.30.02 |
Seek "Tea for Two" Singing Tea Kettle
from BevyJames •-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- I am looking for a musical tea kettle that I saw in a magazine about 20 years ago. The kettle whistles "Tea for Two" when it boils. If anyone knows where I can purchase this item please contact me at Thanks |
| 2004.01.12.01 |
Seek Mechanical Singing Bird Expert in Texas
from Michael Start •Hi all MMDers! I have sent a wonderful antique mechanical singing nightingale to someone in Austin, Texas, but when it arrived its song was quiet on full wind. It's a long shot but does anyone know a good restorer in Texas (must be experienced with mech. birds)? I may have to bring it back to UK ag... |
| 2004.01.31.01 |
Seek Recordings of Singing Bird Automata
from Jeff Brown •-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- Hello from Alaska! I am a radio producer and a magician. In an attempt to combine two of my passions, I am putting together a national radio program featuring music that was used by past masters of magic. In my research, I found that Robert-Houdi... |
| 2004.11.24.03 |
Rubber Diaphragms for Mechanical Singing Bird
from Matthew Caulfield •There are two people in the U.S. whom you might contact about parts for bird boxes. One is Ray Lins, Burnsville, Minn. (R.lins@att.net). The other is Moe Goldy, Port St. Lucie, Fla. (mgoldy@earthlink.net). Griesbaum in Germany used to be known for its whistlers and bird boxes, and the Wendel family... |
| 2004.11.25.01 |
Rubber Diaphragms for Mechanical Singing Bird
from Mike Walter •Dear friends, If you still haven't located diaphragms for your mechanical bird, you may wish to contact S. La Rose in North Carolina, http://www.slarose.com/ I purchased a set of diaphragms from them a couple of years ago. I don't see them listed on their web page, but if you give them a call, I be... |
| 2007.02.16.01 |
Books on Automata and Singing Birds
from Michael Start •Dear MMD, In reply to Kevin McElhone's message, we stock most books on the subject, including "Flights of Fancy" and other rare books. Regards, Michael Start www.automatomania.com |
| 2008.03.05.03 |
Leather Diaphragm for Mechanical Singing Bird
from Keith Reedman •Hello All, I recently found my small singing bird to be silent owing to a perished rubber diaphragm. Not expecting to find a replacement I made one from thin pouch leather by moulding a wet circle of leather in a wooden mould turned from a scrap of wood. The wooden male part turned to the inside di... |
| 2008.03.12.09 |
FS: Leather Bound Singing Bird Box Automaton
from Robert Wu •-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMDigest -- Dear All, I am looking to sell this one-of-a-kind design leather bound singing bird box made with a brand-new German MMM mechanism. The price is US$2000. For pictures, please visit my weblog at http://studiorobertwu.blogspot.com/ Thank you, ... |
| 2009.01.04.01 |
Restoring a Mechanical Singing Bird
from Tony Ciuffini •-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- There are no acceptable ways of reliably restoring a plastic bellows with rubber bellows. We have been converting to a wood and leather for many years. For details contact the Musical Box Doctor at 1-888-711-4646. Tony Ciuffini - Musical Box Doct... |
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