After taking the covers off our Ampico B drawer I discovered that
whoever rebuilt this instrument left the reroll brake drum and pad in
place, though disconnected.  The pad looks fairly new so it seems odd
that it's not attached to the brake pneumatic and all tubing from the
brake pneumatic to the repeat switch and brake value has been removed.

Any opinions on whether it's a good idea to restore this contraption?
I can imagine the brake might be hard on old rolls.  On the other hand,
there's something about having a non-working part of this beautiful
instrument that doesn't sit right with me.

If I were to attempt to restore this to working condition, I will
likely need some help.  The repeat switch nipples and connections to
the brake value and control valve block look very different from the
illustrations in the 1929 service manual.  I can maybe puzzle a few
things out by tracing the existing tubing.

On a slightly different note, is there a purpose to the drawer repeat
switch knob having a pushdown spring action that removes a small pin
from the switch assembly itself?  The way it seems to function is that
by pushing down on the knob in the drawer and rotating it, one can
disengage the drawer switch knob entirely from the rest of the repeat
switch assembly such that rotating the switch knob does not engage the
switch action at all.

As far as I can tell, none of the other drawer switches have such
an action.  I have no idea why one would want such a feature.  Any
knowledge about this out there?

David Greene