Anatomy of a Hupfeld Helios II 25

[@andrewbarrett1537]

"Florentiner March" composed by Julius Fucik. Thanks for posting! Very well lit and not too many people get to see inside one of these!

[@andrewbarrett1537]

The rotating "harfe" reiterating mandolin effect plays starting at 2:40. Thanks for getting video of that!

[@MechanicalMusicTravels]

Do Weber Eratos also use this?

[@andrewbarrett1537]

@@MechanicalMusicTravels Since you've actually seen at least one of the surviving Eratos, and I haven't, you tell me! I believe they use the same IDEA, but probably a somewhat different design, and probably built in the Weber factory, but I really don't know for sure!

[@andrewbarrett1537]

@AaronB 24034 I don't have a plan-diagram in any of my books, but I believe the rotating black paddle wheel, mounted over the hammers, and visible in the center right about 2:36, acts as a 'ratchet' to cause each small, hard separate mandolin hammer to reiterate rapidly when its trip-lever or 'pawl' is engaged by the long connecting dowel or rod coming up vertically from the regular piano action. I think it is a sort of double-lever, so the hammer with the trip pawl is actually pivoted and sprung off of the main on-off lever for that note which, in turn, is the one moved by the connecting rod. At least, that is the logical way it would be built, since I don't see the connecting rods themselves vibrating up and down rapidly whenever the hammer tail / pawl engages with the ratchet paddle wheel. A double lever would be a logical way to isolate these items so that they don't wear as much, and so the reiteration, caused by the paddle wheel, is confined only to the 'mandolin' hammer and isn't transferred back down the connecting rod to the wippen of the regular piano action. Of course, the ratchet wheel / paddle wheel is driven by the round leather belt seen in the extreme foreground of that shot (light up brightly by the camera light) and I think belted to the main crankshaft of the orchestrion which is in turn driven by the motor (via the flywheel). Of course, the crankshaft itself is in the extreme lower foreground of that shot too, and you can see the crank connecting rods (aka "pump sticks") nearly whacking the camera as they move to pump the bellows! Hope this helps.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

@AaronB 24034 I think the flip-lever visible on the side, which moves the connecting rods for the mandolin into 'active' position, also *probably* trips the jacks out of the way on the regular piano action, so both the mandolin hammers and regular piano hammers don't try to play at the same time. But, I'm not sure. Brad could tell us for sure when he has some free time. Tripping the jacks is far more logical than disconnecting the piano wippens from the pneumatic stack entirely when the mandolin is turned on, since if the wippens were disconnected, the piano treble dampers would still be damping the lower treble strings, and the ringing mandolin effect would be ruined. Leaving the piano wippens (and thus dampers) active, is more logical, so the correct piano strings are un-damped at the proper time to allow them to ring when the mandolin hammers play them.

[@MechanicalMusicTravels]

Hi Andrew, I'm not too sure but I think it works on a very similar principal with the wooden rods and a rotating bar.

[@playerpianoshop]

Wonderful video. Thank you for posting

[@SasiakGnarly]

Beautiful orchestrion!

[@Oldscool-man]

Wunderschönes Instrument

[@willyck948]

awesome

[@jokevandevlught8137]

Mike Argain knows how to restore such instruments

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Are those German patent numbers written on the top of the mandolin assembly? If so, what are the numbers, and can we look them up online like American patents? :)

[@coinpiano]

Andrew Barrett They are patent numbers. The mandolin is supply house and is found in Imhoff, Weber and other brands. We are not sure that Hupfeld. if they were made by Hupfeld then then Hupfeld sold them to other builders.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

@@coinpiano Thanks for this info. This would explain why very similar or identical-looking mandolin actions are found in orchestrions by various builders. Probably one maker supplied all the makers with their own mandolin actions. I'm curious who it was, perhaps this research could be done by German enthusiasts (if they haven't already). I wonder whether cylinder orchestrions like those made by Josef Stern also use the same action (of a slightly different design, but maybe under the same patent) or built their own?

[@andrewbarrett1537]

When the camera focuses on the mandolin action, I'm barely able to read: "D. R. P. No. 164491" (? I think; the number is a bit hard to read) and "D. R. C. M. No. 247279" (this number I'm sure I got correct) I think the former is "Deutsche Reichs Patent" which means German Patent ("Reichs" means "nation" I think). Not sure what the second abbreviation means, but perhaps another European viewer on here can explain.

[@vintagecameras3781]

The second is D.R.G.M. (not D.R.C.M.), which is the abbreviation for "Deutsches Reich(s) Gebrauchs Muster". With the D.R.P. you are right. As far as I know, the D.R.G.M. is not really a patent, but just underneath. If you know, what I mean... Kind regards!