The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I tried posting this as a reply to my original post but it keeps making an error.

Yesterday I started the restoration on my Perfection phonograph. The cabinet was cracked, had 6 separations, warping, and had a slather coat of poly shades on it.
I fully dismantled the cabinet, stripped everything, filled couches, added corner braces, glued down warped pieces, and then clamped up everything until tomorrow. Tomorrow I will find sand and put on a nice stain. Unfortunately the body which is metal painted with woodgrain can’t be stripped or I will lose the wood grain. I will have to tone the cabinet to match the center insert. Maybe it will look good with contrasting colors. The oak is very nice so I would hate to cover it up.

The motor was rebuilt and the spring removed/re-greased. One governor weight snapped during testing, and the main spring seems to be too weak even at a full wind.
All in all a great project! I love these challenges and this is a great learning experience for motor rebuilding. I’m going to order the 1 ¾” replacement springs and try drilling out the old rivets to add screws. Then I have to remove the spring I just re-greased and measure it so I can get a new one.
UGH
When I bought it the owner said it was not making a lot of sound. When I took off the top I realized that the horn extension to the reproducer had snapped off so I resoldered. That was an easy one LOL

Nice job and thanks for the images ... I can almost smell the grease and it reminds me I have work to do myself

I need help,
I have a dilemma now with this restoration. I have stripped the top and bottom and they are beautiful grained oak. The issue is that the center barrel is metal with painted woodgrain. The person who slathered the cabinet with the tinted poly also coated the drum. I cant remove the poly without removing the woodgrain paint. Now the top and base are light and the columns and drum are dark. I think the only thing I can do is tone the top and base to match the darker mahogany color.

Ideas??

Is there a way to fume the oak to darken it ??? If not it will take a dark stain to come close. It is looking good.... It makes it hard when the phonograph is made of several materials and you can not modify one. Tom

What a Fascinating phono! Very clever how the horn spirals around, with the faux graining on the e terror.
I think that by the time you choose a stain and varnish/shellac the oak, the grained metal “can” will look fine as it is. With the oak panels and columns, it is set back far enough that it will be somewhat in the shadows.
Nice work!

I was thinking about photofinish...
I have photofinished pieces before but it would always be in my mind that it was not the original paint. I was also thinking of getting a woodgrain paint. As for the fuming, the grey would never match right and fuming is a task I would not want to undertake. The finish could be darkened with a stain but it would never be as dark as the rest. I could easily tine the top and bottom to match but again, I really like the light wood as it shows off the grain. It was also originally light. The drum has areas where the poly came off and the woodgrain paint is nice and light.
That is the other issue... There are splotches all over the back and side where the poly is missing. See photograph below for reference.
I figure here are the options.
1. Match the cabinet to the drum and live with the color and blotchy areas.
2. Strip the columns and drum and paint on the woodgrain.
3. Strip the columns and drum and Photofinish in woodgrain.. (Example of Photofinish below)

None are easy so I need to decide before doing any. I can always strip if #1 does not look good. Maybe #1 would be the best "first" choice.

Thanks for the help and compliments...

If you can do a proper job then refinish the drum- this could also give you the option of having the missing tinplate cover reproduced.

First of all, please explain what you mean by "photofinish"... Doing a search for that term brings up a lot of horse racing references, along with some absurd ones like the example below from Urban Dictionary.

I, personally, like the contrast between the lighter oak and the darker metal drum. Wood graining the drum would be an option, but takes some practice and specialized tools to accomplish an acceptable result... If you are up to that, it would be a good choice - much better than darkening the wood to match the current drum color. Otherwise, painting the drum with a dark rubbed bronze finish paint might be an option, since no one has probably seen another of these for comparison anyway... You could also paint the tonearm and its base to match the drum, which would make it look consistent...

estott wrote:If you can do a proper job then refinish the drum- this could also give you the option of having the missing tinplate cover reproduced.

I don't understand. I don't see anything missing.

Photofinish is a term used in the early production days.

A photofinish is a cheaper alternative to veneer. Companies wanted pieces to look like veneer but to save money they screened them with a vellum thin piece of paper in the design they wanted. It is almost like a decal you would put on. I have mostly used it on radios since Philco used it a lot and that is where the term originated. If you google Philco Photofinish you will find it.

I researched the woodgraining and it seems pretty easy. The only thing is that it is always done on a flat surface. The tools are not made for a round surface. I am going to try to get in the shop today and whatever happens... happens.

Kirk