I'm trying to rebuild the mechanism of a Wurlitzer 1100 or any other similar mechanism in the Wurlitzer series from scratch (and out of wood, since I don't have any sophisticated metal working tools). In the future I hope to create a custom designed frame around the mechanism as well, but first of all I should probably get that mechanism going. So there's a couple things I'm currently trying to grasp and I wonder if anyone could help me out with some advice. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
This is the mechanism I'm talking about (though its not a 1100):
Note that I'm leaving out the memory drum, that's gonna be handled by a microcontroller.. because I really want to finish this project at some point
Okay, so first of all, I'm a little bit worried about my selector mechanism. Unfortunately all I can relay on is patent drawings and pictures from the web as not a single human being in my area seems to own *any* kind of juke. Check out the picture above. The spot marked 1 is the thing I'm worried about. To me the whole thing looks like two seperate pieces. One which holds the selection bar, allowing for horizontal movement and the other, laying in between, keeping the assembly fixed to vertical movement on the big shaft. So here's my own rendition of the whole mechanism:
I've outlined the basic movement principle of the mechanism for you to better understand how I think it should work.. the thing right now is, I'm certain that it indeed *does* work. The issue I have now is that when moving up and down the mechanism sometimes stalls and a great force is required to unstall it. I don't know if this is because there is too much spacing in the big hole for the shaft, because the shaft's made of wood (wood against wood doesn't work too well I guess) or because I didn't really get the whole idea of the mechanism. Now I don't know if the issue will be fixed when I get to add the actual selection bar and fix it inside the machine. I just thought, before I'm making any huge mistake, I might ask..
Okay, secondly, and this is where it gets harder for me.. I counted the number of motors my jukebox would need if every single function was actually driven by its own motor.. that'd sum up to 5. Moving the selection bar horizontally, moving it vertically, lifting the turntable, turning the turntable and moving the pickup needle into and out of position. Looking through the patent drawings of this and similar mechanisms, I usually did not encounter more than 2-3 motors. I found out that Wurlitzer at some point had only one motor providing power to all the mechanisms using (dunno if I remember correct) some gear-shifting system. Now, my question is, is there *any* chance of rebuilding this or a similar mechanism at home or will I actually need to use one motor for each mechanism. From looking at the patent drawings, it looks very, very complex, so if anyone would have some insight on how to drive the mechanisms using less than 5 motors, any pictures, videos, etc. I'd be really grateful!
Okay, onto the last question for now.. it's got something to do with the pickup and the turntable. How exactly did they manage to lift the turntable while rotating it at the same time? did the shaft rest in some kind of bearing at the bottom, did they lift the turntable motor as well or did they do something entirely different? Because from how I look at it, as soon as I attach a motor lifting the turntable shaft, the shaft will be fixed to that motor and is of course unable to turn. So there must be some kind of "device" that makes lifting and turning possible. Unfortunately I haven't found any pictures of that mechanism either, so if anyone could provide me with some insight, that'd be really awesome. Another thing that goes into the same direction is the pickup. How am I supposed to mechanically move the pickup in and out of its "playing" position while ensuring that it is still able to move freely and follow the groves on the record? I could imagine some kind of special "clamp" device supported by a solenoid or an electromagnet doing that kind of job, but yet again, I couldn't find any definite references.
I would be very, very grateful if you could help me out with these questions. I'm not necessarily new to electronics (also the first time I'm doing "real" wood work, but I've got a great mentor), but the mechanical part of this project sometimes just buffs me out..
Best regards,
Philipp
P.S.
If you'd like to have a look at what I've already "finished" (needs some base coat and a nice chrome effect paint), here's the selection pad, using some original keys (think they're from a Wurlitzer 2100, though I'm not too sure anymore.. should probably look that up some time). I also added some decorative elements as well as some subtle, warm red lighting. Looking at it, you can barely make out the circles the LEDs produce, giving it a nice, diffused color.
