The Trottophone. Home-made DIY Cylinder phonograph.

I made this phonograph about 30 years ago. It looks very shiny in the video, as I had just taken it to bits, cleaned and polished every part before putting it back together. The machine plays Edison Amberol cylinders. They turn at 160 rpm, with 200 grooves per inch, and last for about 4 minutes. Motor from a children's gramophone of unknown make. Mandrel made from a line printer platen. Gears from the same printer (a bit noisy). Soundbox from a Columbia 202 gramophone. Stylus is Edison Amberol 'B' 0.0037" full conical radius diamond, from The Expert Stylus Company. Horn is from a BTH loudspeaker. The rest, made from scratch. The lead screw is a brass bar with 100 threads per inch, running at half the cylinder speed. The carriage is driven along by a nylon rod resting on top of the lead screw.