Spitz Jr 1950s toy projector.

Shows the condition on opening the bottom. The rubber gasket that keeps the ball at an angle. was dried out, So I wanted to replace it with one from the hardware store. I figured it would make sense to replace the gummy gui old electrical tape. (which is worthless for anything not temporary.) With some disconnect connectors.



Shows the results. I had some cotton covered wire, pulled from a pipe organ. (Technically this wire MUST be replaced when the instrument is serviced) There are probably miles of telephone wire inside these instruments.

With the wiring checked out, I could power it and try one of the Batteries + Bulbs GE 13 replacement. It worked.

Next up will be to see if I can repair the dent in the top with scalding water.



I am surprised there are not more descriptions of maintaining these. Probably most collectors are looking for Mint in box with all the parts and original. I suspect given the number on eBay that many are attempting to downsize collections.

Online searches for the most part simply return sales listings. Most technical info behind paywalls. Hopefully this does something to alleviate some of that noise.

It is also interesting how supple the ring that joins the two hemispheres is. Mine is gray and not yellow as the pictures often show. I wonder it this is a silicone rather than latex rubber which grows bittle over time. I can remember when the toy companies in the 1960s sold home vulcanizing machines. Creepy-crawleys for the boys. Jewelry accessories for the girls.

The local plastics art supply store TAP plastics. Does sell Room Temperature Vulcanizing (RTV) Silicone for mold making. They also were selling latex which has a lot of sulfur in it. As does your hair teeth and fingernails. The TAP RTV silicone could be used to cast a new ring.

have to fix the pointer wand. The wire was molded into the connector and is frayed.


Most of this toy seems to be vacuum formed. I built a vacuum form machine. So It could be quite possible to replicate this.