Landgdorff et Fils Cartel 8/78 circa 1882 Serial No 20482 - Restoration Diary
A lovely box in excellent condition with a pristine tune sheet written in Romanian with some lovely (later) inlay containing a rather nice movement by a known maker. Seven of the eight tunes are Romanian and one is Austrian. This makes this movement rare and makes this box a bit special.
There are a few issues...
The stop arm is missing the pin that locates into the great wheel and the female Geneva Stop mechanism and retaining screw is missing. The comb appears to be sound with no missing tips. However, the tunes appear to be 'off', probably because the pins do not align with the comb due to wear on the snail or snail pin. It also appears that the tips are raked and also the cylinder pins. It is difficult to tell if the latter is true as there are a large number of bent pins.
The cylinder is particularly dirty and tarnished compared to the rest of the mechanism, although all brass components are tarnished and stained by what seems to be oil.
The female Geneva Stop is missing (new one now made)
The cylinder measures 279mm x 54.81mm dia.
The box itself is in really good condition, but I'm not entirely sure that the inlay on the lid is original. It just doesn't seem right. Probably added to a plain lid to enhance it, which it does.
There are a few issues...
The stop arm is missing the pin that locates into the great wheel and the female Geneva Stop mechanism and retaining screw is missing. The comb appears to be sound with no missing tips. However, the tunes appear to be 'off', probably because the pins do not align with the comb due to wear on the snail or snail pin. It also appears that the tips are raked and also the cylinder pins. It is difficult to tell if the latter is true as there are a large number of bent pins.
The cylinder is particularly dirty and tarnished compared to the rest of the mechanism, although all brass components are tarnished and stained by what seems to be oil.
The female Geneva Stop is missing (new one now made)
The cylinder measures 279mm x 54.81mm dia.
The box itself is in really good condition, but I'm not entirely sure that the inlay on the lid is original. It just doesn't seem right. Probably added to a plain lid to enhance it, which it does.
First stage of dismantling
7th November 2022
I started the serious job of cleaning this mucky mechanism.
Having removed the spring from its barrel, it’s pretty certain that it’s not the original spring as it's too narrow and thin so it will need to be replaced.
I started the serious job of cleaning this mucky mechanism.
Having removed the spring from its barrel, it’s pretty certain that it’s not the original spring as it's too narrow and thin so it will need to be replaced.
The cylinder cleaning is proving to be as painful as I expected. The oil is very difficult to move. These photos are after two scrubs with Wrights Brass Polish so there is a lot more to do. My arm aches!
21st March 2023
It's been a while since I had time to work on this mechanism. Today I have reassembled the governor and have begun to put some of the other components back together and onto the bedplate, just to see if it moves freely, and it does, but only just.
June
The tricky job of cutting the new spring to length and getting it into the barrel has been completed.
I have second polished the cylinder, but it's not very good and there are a lot of missing and bent pins. This is going to need repining.
The whole box went toThe Music Box Restorer on 6th July.
Meanwhile, I've been working on the tunes. See here
It's been a while since I had time to work on this mechanism. Today I have reassembled the governor and have begun to put some of the other components back together and onto the bedplate, just to see if it moves freely, and it does, but only just.
June
The tricky job of cutting the new spring to length and getting it into the barrel has been completed.
I have second polished the cylinder, but it's not very good and there are a lot of missing and bent pins. This is going to need repining.
The whole box went toThe Music Box Restorer on 6th July.
Meanwhile, I've been working on the tunes. See here
