were victrola cranks nickel-plated?

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tesch1932
Victor I
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were victrola cranks nickel-plated?

Post by tesch1932 »

please excuse this silly question. It's just that nearly all the cranks I have ever seen were very tarnished/rusted.

Thanks :)

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Curt A
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Re: were victrola cranks nickel-plated?

Post by Curt A »

Yes, other than ones that were gold plated or had a special finish... Most of the common machines had nickel plated cranks and because they were handled a lot, plus they are 90-100 yrs. old, the plating wore off and they got rusty. You can remove any rust and polish them if you want a shiny crank, they are relatively easy to restore...
"The phonograph† is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.

"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
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VanEpsFan1914
Victor VI
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Re: were victrola cranks nickel-plated?

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

Right on that--and unfortunately, taking them off the machine only reveals a lot of nice shiny nickel as a contrast to the rust & pitting on the outside.
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XIV crank for triple spring motor.
XIV crank for triple spring motor.

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Henry
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Re: were victrola cranks nickel-plated?

Post by Henry »

I had good success restoring the shine to my XI crank (Victorspeak: "winding key") by using 0000 steel wool, then coating with paste wax.

tesch1932
Victor I
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Re: were victrola cranks nickel-plated?

Post by tesch1932 »

thanks!

RNaylor
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Re: were victrola cranks nickel-plated?

Post by RNaylor »

I had a very rusted and pitted crank. I used 220 grit to smooth out the pitting, then 400, followed by emery cloth. Then i replated (easy tutorials on YouTube). I don't have a picture of the finished crank on my phone, but it looks new. Here's a No. 2 bezel that i did the dame way.
20200627_155700.jpg

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