| Some damage to a music box can not only make a box
sound terrible, but it can also make the box look unsightly. Broken
tooth tips, missing teeth, missing or damaged dampeners, broken
governors, damaged cylinders, and worn combs can all take
considerable time and effort to repair. Most of the work done on
music boxes is very tedious and time consuming. Almost all of this
work is done with the use of a magnifying head set, many specialty
tools, and, of course, patience, patience, and more patience.
If a comb is missing a tooth tip, it will not come in contact
with the cylinder pin, and therefore will not sound. To repair a
broken tip, it is necessary to grind off the remaining part of the
tip, and cut a slot into the tooth, insert a piece of steel, weld
the new tip, cut the tip to length, hone to exact size, align it
with the cylinder pin, and then polish it so it cosmetically looks
perfect. All of this tip repairing can take several hours, as it is
also necessary to take certain precautions to protect the adjoining
teeth and tips while working so closely to them with metal tools and
heat.
When a tooth is broken off, it can't be re-attached. The old
tooth must be ground off to the base of the comb and a slot cut into
it. The new tooth must be made, by hand, to the exact dimensions of
the old tooth, including a new tip and dampener. This tooth is then
fit into the slot in the comb, and welded in place. Once the new
tooth is in the comb, it must be ground to match it's original tone
and appearance, while also aligning with the cylinder pin. The
replacement of just one tooth can take from several hours to over a
day, depending on the size and nature of it.
All music boxes coming into my shop will receive a thorough and
free estimate of repair. All you will need to do is to take care of
the shipping charges.
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