Hello all,  Well, I'm ecstatic.  In the last four days, I took the
gears, gadgets, chains, wheels, and all other assorted parts and
bearing out of my Aeolian player.  I cleaned them, getting the old
gunk, dust and ick off of them, and put everything back.

This actually only took a day or so.  The rest of the time ended up
being spent on adjusting and re-oiling.  All my adjusting and cleaning
paid off, however, as everything runs smooth as a baby's butt.  The
cleaning even fixed a temperamental tempo problem.

There is one thing, however.  On the air motor (three valves, offset
on a crank-shaft looking rod, which drives everything), at certain
speeds (usually around 50-70) something 'catches'.  There's a soft
'clack' of wood on wood, and the motion of the rod/assorted gears stop
very briefly.  The motion continues after that.

I think I may need to adjust the three valves, as the clacking noise
is one of the sliders covering and uncovering the vents in a valve:
it's pulling away from the valve, and then clacking back against it.
With tension on the pull-up spool, the problem goes away.  At high
tempos, the problem also goes away.  Thought, ideas?

Also, a little help and a part needed, regarding the same item --
the crankshaft rod feeds through two supporting wooden brackets on
either end of the three valves.  One end has the gear to the chain,
the other is just there for support.  The rod then also goes through
the three wooden brackets attached to the valves.

While cleaning everything, I was going to take the crankshaft rod
out and clean it as well, and when I unscrewed one of the supporting
wooden brackets, the thing fell apart in my hands.  It appears that
someone else had taken it off, then re-attached it, and the screw split
the wood.  Right now I have a temporary solution (gluing the wood
again) but I would like to know if anyone might have a replacement.
My player is an 1915-1918 Aeolian.

The wood has a round hole for the rod, which the wood also has a
slit (for tightening and loosening, I'm guessing) running down it
length-wise to where two large screws attach the bracket to the
motor-valves.  I can provide a picture, but it will be a while until
I get the film developed..  (I also need other parts, like brake-pads,
rubber tension wheels, but this is more important, as I don't know how
long the glue will hold out.)

Anyways, thanks!

Mike Morrey