Edison Amberola V

We just picked up one of these at an estate sale with about 200 cylinder recordings. They had no idea how to work it, so after taking a look I figured it out and it plays! Here is the problem, we know nothing about it as in what to maintain it or clean the dust off of all of these cylinders....can anyone bring us up to speed?

Well some of them maybe plastic (celluloid) or wax.
The wax ones will not take any abuse. If you clean the cylinders don't get the plaster on the inside wet. Also they may be warped. The speed can be adjusted by a thumbscrew on the gear housing. Most of those records were kept in tubes, did they come with tubes? I would use distilled water and Joy dish-soap. Rinse and let dry.
They will keep better in a drawer or record cabinet.
Check the needle and make sure the playback head can move smoothly with out hanging up.

Hi thanks for the answer, the are not wax but the Blue ones. Some have the cardboard some don't so we are looking to have a display cabinet with drawers modified to hold them. Thanks for the info on cleaning them. Some are warped so they play funny. The needle seems to be playing fine, I have played about 10 of the cylinders so far. Hoping to learn more as we go. We only paid $475 for the Amberola and the cylinders so from what I have gathered we did ok. We bought it not for resale, but because it is such a great piece so we want to keep it in the best condition.

Look Here for repair info that you could do:
Click Here
-----------------------------
If they are warped you can get a reamer to smooth out the plaster inside.

I have the Amberola 30 that I Inherited from my family. I have a picture of my Grandfather siting at a table with his watch and the record player. I think he was setting the speed on it.
One thing Edison used on the spring driven motors was to use vaseline and graphite mixed together.