Today I put some work into Eliezane’s reel-to-reel. She dug it out of storage. It was her father’s, whom I never had the pleasure of meeting. He loved music, sports, and scotch, and he was a freelance writer who sometimes worked for the military. He has many recordings, most of which seem to be old country and blues. One reel is labeled “First Moon Landing.” I hope I have a chance to hear that.

The internal speakers seem fine, but I’m having some problems with the mechanics. Fast-forward and rewind work fine, but there is a problem with playing the reel.

First I noticed that the low black wheel (apologies for the amateur descriptions) did not line up with the large beige wheel beneath, the latter of which plays the recording.

I simply had to contour the levers behind the wheel. I wonder what went wrong there. I did notice that someone had been into the machine before. A couple of knobs were in the wrong place.

Once those wheels lined up, the play was still stuck. It was then that I noticed that the rubber spool was too close (too tight) to the axle under which the reel sits as it passes from left to right.

The rubber spool crushes the reel. As far as I can tell, there needs to be more space. (When I create the space with my fingers, everything moves.)

A large lever underneath creates the tension between the rubber spool and the axle. I traced the lever to the switch which toggles fast-forward, rewind, play, and pause. The mechanism that controls those settings works a bit like a ribbon shift mechanism on a typewriter, moving from black to red ribbon.

If I am correct, years of usage have worn metal away, which lowers the tension lever too low, thus raising the lever too high at the rubber spool, pushing the spool into the axle. I certainly cannot solder anything into it. The switch is violent as it switches from one setting to the next. Anything I add would be destroyed. Could I sand down the rubber spool, making it thinner, thus allowing the reel to pass unhindered? Maybe. I have to think through these issues. It is important that I stick within my abilities. This is her father’s reel-to-reel. I certainly hope I can get it working for her.