Restoration of Indian HMV 118 recently completed -w/ photos

[AZ*]

I bought this gramophone back in 2010 from a guy in Phoenix, Arizona. A few of you may recall this old TMF thread which includes many "before" photos:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=4176

I initially did quite a bit of cosmetic restoration on it (e.g. wood repair and refinishing), but then got busy with other things, so the gramophone languished for a quite a while. I finally completed overhauling the motor and reassembling the gramophone this week. While working on the motor, I realized that my tub of wheel bearing grease was at least 10 or 12 years old, so I bought a fresh tub of Mobil 1 Synthetic (red). I've had new replacement springs - purchased from Ron Sitko specifically for the HMV 118 - for probably 6 or 7 years, but they are still good as new and obviously hadn't lost any power.

During the cosmetic restoration, I had to totally strip the case with chemical strippers and scraping to remove the horrible brown paint. I also made 4 little replacement wooden feet from leftover plywood (only one foot was still attached to the case, and it was used as a template - see photo below). I shaved down some strips of the best matching wood I could locate to make my own bits of replacement veneer, including ¼ inch wide strips along the entire front and rear of the top of the case lid. I couldn't salvage the decal on the inside of the lid, but before I removed it, I found a spot-on replacement on ebay from Eduardo in Peru who also makes repro wood horns. I matched the color of the finish pretty closely to what was on the inside of the lid. Post restoration photos were taken indoors with available sunlight only - no flash or artificial lighting. I tried to get a replacement HMV type latch, but the one I got from a dealer in England wasn't a very good match. It was dark bronze - from an HMV 102 I believe - and would have needed to be painted silver/chrome. I recently spotted a newly manufactured, chrome-plated latch from China on ebay that is the right size and looked pretty good, so that's what I used.

The #32 two-spring motor had experienced a hard life, and had obviously been subjected to some primitive, amateurish repairs. I ended up replacing the spring barrel and cap and the governor from a junker VV-VIII that I had on hand.

I naturally prefer unrestored, non-refinished machines. But in this case, I had an opportunity to rescue a basket case machine and add something unusual to the collection.

The HMV 118 now runs well and sounds good.

[tomb]

Very nice.. It looks like it took an immense amount of work. Tom

[SPOONMAN19]

Beautiful!
And a lot of hard work has gone into it. I will be bugging you with questions when I embark on sprucing up my 118.

[Marco Gilardetti]

I tried to get a replacement HMV type latch, but the one I got from a dealer in England wasn't a very good match. It was dark bronze - from an HMV 102 I believe - and would have needed to be painted silver/chrome. I recently spotted a newly manufactured, chrome-plated latch from China on ebay that is the right size and looked pretty good, so that's what I used.

Very nice gramophone overall, but unfortunately I have to say that the latch really strikes the eye. It looks like (it is, actually) on of those latches that were commonly used on japanese camera compartment bags in the '70s, and I've noticed it as soon as I've opened the pictures. Since you did such a huge work on this portable, perhaps you might have your HMV's original spare chromed or nickeled in the future, it's a pity the way in which the latch detracts from all the good work that you've done.

[epigramophone]

Congratulations on saving this rare and interesting machine. You have done a superb job.
Apart from the lid catch already mentioned, there is one other small fitting which may not be original.
The manual brake appears to be Columbia/Garrard not HMV. Both are pictured below, Columbia/Garrard on the left, HMV on the right.

[Phono48]

Very nice gramophone overall, but unfortunately I have to say that the latch really strikes the eye.

A fantastic job, but I have to agree with the above!

[poodling around]

[quote="AZ*"]I bought this gramophone back in 2010 from a guy in Phoenix, Arizona. A few of you may recall this old TMF thread which includes many "before" photos:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... f=2&t=4176

I initially did quite a bit of cosmetic restoration on it (e.g. wood repair and refinishing), but then got busy with other things, so the gramophone languished for a quite a while. I finally completed overhauling the motor and reassembling the gramophone this week. While working on the motor, I realized that my tub of wheel bearing grease was at least 10 or 12 years old, so I bought a fresh tub of Mobil 1 Synthetic (red). I've had new replacement springs - purchased from Ron Sitko specifically for the HMV 118 - for probably 6 or 7 years, but they are still good as new and obviously hadn't lost any power.

During the cosmetic restoration, I had to totally strip the case with chemical strippers and scraping to remove the horrible brown paint. I also made 4 little replacement wooden feet from leftover plywood (only one foot was still attached to the case, and it was used as a template - see photo below). I shaved down some strips of the best matching wood I could locate to make my own bits of replacement veneer, including ¼ inch wide strips along the entire front and rear of the top of the case lid. I couldn't salvage the decal on the inside of the lid, but before I removed it, I found a spot-on replacement on ebay from Eduardo in Peru who also makes repro wood horns. I matched the color of the finish pretty closely to what was on the inside of the lid. Post restoration photos were taken indoors with available sunlight only - no flash or artificial lighting. I tried to get a replacement HMV type latch, but the one I got from a dealer in England wasn't a very good match. It was dark bronze - from an HMV 102 I believe - and would have needed to be painted silver/chrome. I recently spotted a newly manufactured, chrome-plated latch from China on ebay that is the right size and looked pretty good, so that's what I used.

The #32 two-spring motor had experienced a hard life, and had obviously been subjected to some primitive, amateurish repairs. I ended up replacing the spring barrel and cap and the governor from a junker VV-VIII that I had on hand.

I naturally prefer unrestored, non-refinished machines. But in this case, I had an opportunity to rescue a basket case machine and add something unusual to the collection.

The HMV 118 now runs well and sounds good.


I certainly prefer unrestored - but you have done a marvellous job - and I actually like the 'catch / latch'.

I noticed an interesting looking green car in one of your photo's and wonder what it is ? Maybe from the 1970's ?

[OrthoFan]

Hi Az:

You did a fantastic job!!! It's well worth the time it took. (I can't believe I first posted about it nine years ago!)

OrthoFan

[estott]

That is a great job, considering the degraded condition of the original.

Would have been nice if the more picky members of this forum might have sat on their hands for a least a day before complaining.

[CarlosV]

Great job! The "before" and "after" photo comparison is striking, and you should be proud of this achievement. This is an interesting variation: I have one of these with the original finish, and it is much darker than yours - the varnished part is only a little lighter than the black stripes. A lighter finish like yours is scarcer, but as I understand these colonial machines were sold in several different colors. I have a factory-painted green-and-black model 114, and your machine shows that the 118 was also available in different finishes.

About the lock, I think the original 118 lock is the same as the one used in the portable 102, which should be very easy to find if you want to be punctiliously accurate. If you are interested, please let me know and I can compare both out of the machines in my collection - sometimes there are subtle differences.