Brooks Automatic Repeating Phonograph -help please
Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2018 1:50 pm
I picked this phonograph up off craigslist for $25. The guy I bought it from found it along the road and was going to take it apart for the scrap steel inside. He decided it might be worth more as an antique so he listed it online starting at $150. He kept dropping the price over a couple month period because no one was interested. Unfortunately it was sitting on his front porch all this time and the rain has damaged the finish on part of the lid and one leg. It was also listed as non-working.
I wind the handle and it never actually "winds up". The gears turn inside so I'm sure the spring is probably broken. I have not attempted to trouble shoot or fix it yet. My goal is to restore this machine to working condition and also keep it looking as original as I can.
I got into the phonograph hobby a couple years ago when I bought a non-working Victrola V-XX and got it working again. This is only my second machine.
Questions:
#1 The overall finish of the machine is in good condition, other than half of the lid. It's down to bare wood where the water got to it. What can I do to the bare spots to make it match the rest of the finish a little better?
#2 Can anyone give me an idea of a manufacturing date?
#3 The machine came with a box of spare parts. Can anyone identify the cracked, round "pot metal" part in the one picture that I placed on top of the lid?
Thank you!
I wind the handle and it never actually "winds up". The gears turn inside so I'm sure the spring is probably broken. I have not attempted to trouble shoot or fix it yet. My goal is to restore this machine to working condition and also keep it looking as original as I can.
I got into the phonograph hobby a couple years ago when I bought a non-working Victrola V-XX and got it working again. This is only my second machine.
Questions:
#1 The overall finish of the machine is in good condition, other than half of the lid. It's down to bare wood where the water got to it. What can I do to the bare spots to make it match the rest of the finish a little better?
#2 Can anyone give me an idea of a manufacturing date?
#3 The machine came with a box of spare parts. Can anyone identify the cracked, round "pot metal" part in the one picture that I placed on top of the lid?
Thank you!