The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

As promised in Teak's thread "HMV 101 in wooden box" I can now post pictures of my own newly acquired example. Many thanks to my good friend Old Country Chemist for alerting me to this rare machine and acting as honest broker in the transaction.

This is a first version 101 of 1925/26 whose main distinguishing features are the front wind and the twin needle bins inside the lid. As always, the pictures flatter the machine which has clearly had a hard life. At least it is complete apart from the carrying handle, and that is no problem as I have a suitable spare. The interior will respond to cleaning and polishing, but the exterior is so battered that re-finishing will almost certainly be required.

As well as the pictures I also attach a drawing of the record storage flap to assist Teak in making one for his machine. The front panel comprises five separate pieces of wood to allow for expansion in the tropical climate for which it was intended. It might be tempting when making a replacement to take the easy option of using a single piece of wood, heavily scored to simulate the joints, but the grain pattern would then look wrong.

That's a nice machine, congratulations, I have one that looks identical to yours, with a dealer tag from Calcutta. Well worth a repolishing, the teak is a very good-looking wood.

Epigramaphone: I'm responding to your word "re-finishing." May I politely put in my two-cents worth? That's a word that means many things to many people. I personally much prefer the words conservation or preservation over re-finishing or restoring. I've had cases and furniture like yours, most recently an American brand known as the Cirola from Philly. I believe with a brush and ethanol you can gently remove the remaining shellac from this case without harming the patina on the wood. Then, with a good shellac, perhaps and amber, redo the surface with two coats. Of course I'm basing this on a photo; you have the machine in front of you. I don't think any sanding is required. Anyway, just my two cents. It's your machine.

Good advice. All I intend to do is carefully remove the finish from the outside of the case and re-varnish, leaving the interior alone apart from cleaning. No sanding will be involved. I am assuming that the original finish was shellac, as in India they literally had the stuff growing on trees!

Nice to see the transfer is still there , the oil in teak often makes them peel off , although good replacements are on Ebay

A very nice machine. I'd love to have one of these teak HMV portables. It's interesting that the top seems to be recessed, or is there something missing?

Congratulations
Andreas

The case is 100% original, but although the dimensions are similar to the UK versions the construction is different. There are extra joints to allow for movement in tropical conditions, and the solid teak panels are more resistant to insect attack. Insect larvae, including our home grown UK woodworm, are partial to the animal glue which was used in plywood.

The reason for the comparative rarity of the teak machines is that they were never sold in the UK. The only examples here are those which were brought home by employees of the British Raj in India at the end of their colonial service. It would be interesting to know how many still survive in India, but I suspect that many have been broken up and their mechanical components used in Crapophones.

Congratulation ,beautiful Machine. I love the mystery of these Machines. A real pice of history.
Thank you so much for you help! If you ever would take the record flap off during restoration , and also have a ruler nearby I would be ecstatic to get one or two fotos and some measurments of the back and sides

epigramophone, it's your machine and you will do to it as you see fit but if it was my machine there is absolutely no way I would strip that shellac off the cabinet and refinish it. In my opinion you would lose everything that makes it historically interesting, rare and its age and history will be instantly dissolved with it. I strongly also suspect that you'll never be able to successfully match the new outer finish to the aged inner.

I have had far worse condition finishes than that and brought them back to life without removing the original materials. Dissolving the shellac in no way will retain the "original patina". This is a HARD finish - patination is an over-used word in the trade but in reality it only really should be used to describe the colour and sheen obtained on wood by years of hand waxing and polishing genuine antique furniture. Wax is a soft material that hardens with age. Patina is the lustre and colour obtained through polishing and natural ageing. Twentieth Century domestic appliances with hard coated finishes do not have "patina", only faded colour which itself cannot be replicated with new materials OR by thinning or the process of going-over the original with newer material.

I would simply polish up the shellac with a light abrasive liquid polish to remove a few microns of UV damaged surface (not T-Cut as this damages shellac I believe - I have used a few drops of Brasso on a cloth wetted through with White Spirit!) and then colour in the scratched areas with some matching wood stain (test an area beforehand!) before waxing the whole cabinet over. You might even find Topps Scratch Cover will "lose" some of the lighter marks.

In any event you can achieve a shiny cabinet with less obvious scratches and retain the existing colour WITHOUT ANY DISSOLVING OR REMOVAL of existing finish. The machine will still present well, retain its important aged look and be preserved for posterity. The more dramatic restoration technique quoted by jboger will result in the complete loss of that prized original finish. At least for a lot of discerning UK and European collectors, that is a complete "no-no".

Steve wrote: I would simply polish up the shellac with a light abrasive liquid polish to remove a few microns of UV damaged surface (not T-Cut as this damages shellac I believe - I have used a few drops of Brasso on a cloth wetted through with White Spirit!) and then colour in the scratched areas with some matching wood stain (test an area beforehand!) before waxing the whole cabinet over. You might even find Topps Scratch Cover will "lose" some of the lighter marks.

I agree with Steve, I never did a complete replacement of the original shellac in my machines, the end result looks artificial, in particular when you keep the original interior and renovate the exterior.