Late last summer we started the tremendous job of restoring a 24” Komet upright for a customer.
This was a box that hadn’t played right in sometime. One of our first discoveries happened when we removed the bedplate from the cabinet. Someone along the way had decided that the damper rails needed to be replaced with a combination of epoxy, wood and random heights of dampers from several different makes of boxes. With some help from our friends who sent us a rusty damper rail, we were able to design and engineer accurate upper and lower assemblies. See pictures below of before and after.
This is the dampers that were on the komet when it showed up.
The dampers we borrowed to copy (top) and our new manufactured ones(below)
Dampers on rails. Old and new.
Dampers on the bedplate.
We also found that the starwheels were worn and had to be replaced. The motor also had issues that required us to make new Geneva stop parts to replace the broken and missing parts. After fixing the motor and going through the bedplate, all parts were cleaned, lacquered and painted. Then we re-tuned both combs to scale. We installed the motor and bedplate in the cabinet. Next we built a new sound board from sitka spruce. The end result is a music box that plays with a rich mellow sound just as it did over 100 years ago. Proper restoration insures the best results and dependability.
This is the motor and cabinet before cleaning
This is just to show the size of the motor. For reference that is a 6 inch scale being held up.
What was left of the geneva stop.
A cleaned and ready to go motor.
Finished bedplate in cabinet.
Finished cabinet open.
Front of cabinet
Front view of cabinet.