So much has been written lately about the difficulty of making music
boxes that it is easy to see why people get discouraged and decide not
to try. Thinking of the whole project at once and trying to imagine how
it all fits together can be overwhelming. For those who are interested
in making a music box, it will be helpful to break the work down into
five parts: cylinder, comb/comb base, clockwork (gears), bedplate, and
case. The cylinder and comb are so closely related that they should be
conceived together. The design of the gear train will determine the
speed that the cylinder rotates and will have a bearing on how many
measures of music can be pinned on the cylinder. For this reason the
first three components should be considered independent projects that
are related and dependent on each other. Only after they are finished
should any effort be put into making the bedplate and case.

If thinking in these terms still leaves you yearning for less, the
gearing can be eliminated almost entirely. My first attempt at building
a music box was a large manivelle with a two-inch diameter cylinder.
This hand-cranked mechanism reduced the music box right down to it's
very core-the cylinder and comb, with motive power being provided by the
listener/player by turning a handle on the front of the case. Only two
gears were required, a worm mounted on the same shaft as the handle and
a worm wheel mounted on the same shaft as the cylinder. I actually
turned the worm right into the handle's shaft, which was made from a
piece of one-quarter inch diameter bronze welding rod. The worm wheel
teeth were cut into the enlarged cylinder end cap.

The comb on this manivelle is also very simple, with teeth nearly 3/16
inch wide that were cut on a band saw! Though this mechanism looks
rather crude by Nicole standards, on it's own merits it is still an
interesting movement. There is a certain beauty in simplicity and the
simplicity of this music box enabled me to concentrate on developing a
system of locating the pins on the cylinder, without the diversion of
having to make a governor and nasty spring barrel.

If there is enough interest from others who would like to see my music
boxes and possibly use them as models on which to base their own
efforts, I will be glad to provide pictures. Can they be posted on the
MMD website so I won't have to repeatedly send them as email
attachments?

Charlie Hind

Honea Path, SC