This video was made by the guy who keeps the machines running for
Keystone Music Roll Co. He has done some major work on the Ampico
perforator, notably an entirely new die-plate to go with an unused
original punch set that had been in stock since the 1930s.
I was lucky enough have the opportunity to see the new punch and die
set in his workshop, together and then in bits. Very interesting to
see, for me anyway!
I was intrigued by the details of the machining and annealing to
make the die-plate, done by a very specialised workshop, one of those
"friends of friends" kind of jobs. It's not the kind of specialist
work readily accessible, which is why -- now that QRS have switched
to a modern machine -- this is one of the very few original-era
perforators still in use.
The video is a private record to show it all back together and
running again. I was sent the link in mid-2020, and at that time the
video link was only to those granted access.
So, enjoy it for what it is, an engineer's personal record of
a completed major task. As I was told, "Watch the slow motion at
7+ minutes. You can see the interposers operate & the paper pull."
Julian Dyer
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