[ David Butler wrote in 171227 MMDigest:

> I have purchased two small cylinder movements from eBay and I want to
> dismantle them to clean, reassemble and fit them into a suitable box.

Hi David,  I'd be happy to assist you in your quest, but we'll need a
bit more information to start you on the journey you have partaken for
yourself.  Please call me to discuss your particular situation and for
some diagnostics to determine what might need to be done to them to
restore their operational status and how they might be mounted into new
homes suitable to their size and functionality.  If you can, please
send me some photos of the mechanisms from above and below.

As it stands, the inquiry is kind of like walking into an auto parts
shop and saying you have two cars with cylinder driven engines and
asking how to take them apart, clean them, and then find suitable
chassises to mount them into; without telling the clerk if they are
the same or different size engines.  Who made the engines: Yugo, Ford,
Toyota, or perhaps Rolls-Royce?  How the engines are configured:
bottom wind, top wind, side wind?  With winding keys or ratcheted
cranks?  Et cetera.

We know you have purchased two cylinder musical mechanisms, with the
presumption that they are in need of cleaning.  Are they both the same
size mechanism?  Contemporary and vintage mechanism sizes are usually
determined by the number of teeth on the musical comb and by the number
of melodies they are designed to play.  Antique mechanisms are usually
categorized by the length of the cylinder and the number of tunes
(Aires) they play and/or if there are multiple interchangeable cylinders.

Who made these mechanisms?  Contemporary mechanisms usually have the
manufacturers name imprinted on the bell housing above or below the
winding key which encapsulates the mainspring.  For example, Thorens,
Reuge, Cuendet, Lador (Swiss made) or Sankyo, Fuji, Robin, Toyo
(Japanese made) or perhaps YenSheng (Chinese).

How many teeth are on the musical comb?  How many melodies are they
designed to play?  Are the mechanisms working at this time?  What
problems (if any) do you perceive that they might have?

Most sincerely wishing you, and the whole MMD family, a
Happy & Healthy Ho Ho Ho Holiday Season & A Joyou$ New Year!

Don Caine - Proprietor, The Music Box Repair Center Unlimited
Lomita, California
tel.: 1-310-534-1557
http://www.musicboxrepaircenter.com/