Stumped by this grill - help please

[mike668]

Hey everyone,

Hoping someone can help me with this one.... Got my hands on two phonographs recently.  One is a mahogany "national phonograph" player (not researched this one yet) and an Edison H19 made with Tiger Oak.  Aside from needing a new reproducer, the only thing really wrong with the Edison is the grill.  You can tell it was "worked on" before (the big nails and staples holding it together were a big clue <wink>)  I was going to recreate the grill but unfortunately the "center" of the grill is missing.  You can see the "stubs" of what was left.  I have spent a LOT of time trying to find a pic of the grill I have for this, to use it as a guide to reproduce it but have not found anything like it in any pics I've looked at and decided to ask the gurus.  I'm not even sure if the grill is original and the more I look at it I'm thinking it's not.  I would have assumed the grill, like the rest of the cabinet, would have been made of tiger oak but this grill looks mahogany.  However, it certainly is slotted, top and bottom, to fit in the groves in the cabinet perfectly... so I just don't know.

Has anyone seen a grill similar to this anywhere?  This doesn't appear to be an amateur reproduction, it's a ply but sanded extremely smoothly in all cut-out areas to a very smooth finish.  After looking at all the other pics of grills relating to the H19, this one is actually (well WAS in its past) much nicer looking, style wise, than most I've seen... but the lack of evidence proving it's original has just got me baffled.  The pic below is as it came out of the unit aside from pulling all the nails and staples out of it.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!

Mike

[mike668]

I cannot believe I actually found it!  I decided to look up info on that National Player I mentioned above (another oddity I haven't been able to find) and lo and behold, there was a pic that popped out at me.  I was right, it wasn't original, this piece came from a Brunswick-Balke Collender Co. Model # YO23195, made of walnut.  I think I preferred NOT knowing what the center piece looked like but regardless...

I think I may just use this design... thanks anyway.  ;-)

[lucius1958]

The H-19 had two different styles of grille. The early models had a molded "composition" grille with a pattern of fleur-de-lys; in late 1922, it was changed to a shield pattern.

You can get a replacement grille of the later type fromTom Rutkowski at grampstreasures.com; I don't know whether anyone is reproducing the earlier style.

BillS

[mike668]

Thanks Bill.  I had actually looked at the Fleur-de-lys grills after finding that site from reading this forum... not sure how much I like the look of it though.  I don't remember seeing a "shield" patterned one, I may check that out.  I was planning on just re-creating the one in the pictures I included, replacing the center piece that's missing with a fancy "R" (for my last name)... I plan on keeping this myself so why not add a little customization.  BUT, I like the thought of the shield pattern, I'll have to see how it looks. 

Side question:  What type of oil is used for these machines?  All the mechanisms look like they're fairly well oiled and seem to move smoothly but I plan on giving this thing a thorough cleaning, it looks like it's got years of dust build up and wanted to re-oil it once it's been cleaned.

Thanks for the feedback!

[lucius1958]

A light oil such as Singer sewing machine oil is often recommended for lubricating phonograph motors.

"3-in-1" oil is not considered particularly good, nor WD-40: they have other ingredients which tend to gum up.

BillS

[mike668]

Thanks Bill, much appreciated!