Restored 1929 Leedy Vibraphone. Overview and explanation of how it works. Nearly 100 years old!

Restored a 1929 Leedy portable vibraphone I found on Facebook marketplace. I’ve always wanted a vibraphone for its spooky and mystical sound. But they are always so large and cumbersome if you were to have to move them around to play a live show. So when I found this one, I was excited to try and bring it back to life. It took me many weeks of trial and error to find a motor that would work. There’s really not much out there about this particular instrument. Initially, I wanted to make it as close to 100% original, but with the lack of information, I did the best I could to make it playable. I tried several different motors to get it right. At first I wanted it to be an AC motor as the original speed control was a rheostat. Kinda like an old slot car controller function. No matter what I tried with using an AC motor, I couldn’t get it to spin slow. There were no signs of an AC to DC step down transformer, so by my best assessment, this thing was powered by an AC motor. Eventually I gave up on that. Despite wanting to make it original as possible, I wanted to play it more than anything, so I decided to use a more easily accessible DC motor. I used a power supply for a laptop that provided a clean 12vDC, and replaced the very old rheostat with a new potentiometer. I found a 12vDC motor with gearing, as I figured that would add more torque. Actually I tried several of them before finding the right speed ratio. I had to make a drive pulley myself out of fender washers and 2 part epoxy clay, using a pulley hub that fit the motor shaft. It took some experimenting. All the keys were removed and cleaned. The cords and felts were all replaced. The structural wood inside was all re glued and reinforced. All the sound tubes were re attached and mounted. Everything was cleaned. And a new handle was attached, as the near 100 year old leather of the old handle had cracked and broken. All the mechanical parts were cleaned and lubricated, and the power cord was replaced with a vintage looking cloth covered modern cord. It is now my favorite piece of musical gear. It plays and sounds so good. Check out my music and you can hear it in action!! Cheers!!