SYMPHONIUM STAND

A table tailored to a 19th Century relic.

SHOP OWNER: Bill Grumbine LOCATION: Kutztown, PA

Earlier this year, a gentleman approached me on the recommendation of a mutual acquaintance and asked me about the possibility of building a cabinet for him. He collects antique music boxes, the kind that play interchangeable steel disks with holes punched in them. I told him I would be glad to build him a cabinet provided he could supply some details as to what he wanted.

My details were supplied in the form of the base footprint of the music box and a 3" x 5" picture taken of a similar box at an auction. I told him that I would design the spindles holding up the top to match the spindles on his box. This is the result.

The music box is a Symphonium, built about 100 or so years ago. Apparently these things were very popular for a short period of time starting just prior to the 1890s. They faded in popularity with the advent of Edison's talking machine, and are now a collectors item.

I built the cabinet by scaling the supplied picture, and doing a lot of sitting and figgering. It is constructed entirely of mahogany, except the divider panels and the lower back panel, which are mahogany veneer plywood. The upper spindles were turned in three parts and machined further on a friend's Legacy milling machine. The lower split turnings are all one piece, including the top and bottom square parts. The finish is four coats of Bartley's gel varnish.