Follow the Restoration - Victor M

[Dave D]

This is so much fun! Please correct me if I am wrong, but aren't those fluted pieces supposed to be two different sizes? The different is the thickness. When they are put together to form a corner, they end up the same width.
Dave D

[Mr Grumpy]

This is so much fun! Please correct me if I am wrong, but aren't those fluted pieces supposed to be two different sizes? The different is the thickness. When they are put together to form a corner, they end up the same width.
Dave D

Exactly. Each set has a thicker and a thinner, but in my case (pun intended) one of the thicker pieces had a large sliver of wood missing from it.

[winsleydale]

Jeez, Mr. Grumpy. I wish I had been hanging with this from the beginning This is one of the most holistically satisfying things I have ever experienced. As for the yodeling: Yes, Franzl Lang is by far the best. They don't call him Jodelkoenig for nothin'!

[Mr Grumpy]

Part 6-ish: Another Quickie Please

Okay, so I thought I'd post a quick update while the red spray paint dries...




He's a pic of the tone arm as I received it.
Please excuse Jerry's pudgy fingers...




Now, I'm not a big fan of new nickel plate, because then I always feel it looks out of place
on an original machine. I also have a problem with really bad nickel plating on an otherwise
pretty good looking piece.

While most who feel this way may seek out a tone arm in better condition, it's fairly safe to say that
I tend to do things the hard way (and probably the wrong way).
I instead decided to nickel plate the piece myself,and would try to make it less than perfect so as to
avoid the 'new' look.

To do this, I sanded down the exposed brass area of the tone arm with wet/dry sandpaper starting with 800 grit
(lightly), 1000 grit(not as lightly), and 1500 grit (until the desired smoothness was achieved).
I definitely made sure to NOT remove all the pitting and make it a mirror brass finish.

I used this --> http://www.caswellcanada.ca/shop/plug-n ... l-kit.html

and this is the result.



I'm quite pleased with it, as it looks 1000 times better, but still looks like it is over 100 years old.
I was actually surprised with how well the nickel matched, as long as you don't try to polish it to a mirror shine
as obviously the newer nickel will shine quite a bit more.


Until the red paint dries, please enjoy the program I'm forced to watch each evening with my 4 year old.
And consider yourself blessed that there isn't 10 hours of it.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13vb3fGj8Zk[/youtube]

[Mr Grumpy]

Part I lost count: The Final Chapter

Just when you thought it had disappeared forever, the annoying restoration thread is back!

On the positive side though, this is The Final Chapter...





I forget where I left off on the last post, but after a VERY
thorough cleaning with Go-Jo

This.



Not This



I began a re-amalgamation of the original shellac finish.
To do this, I used a small square of lint-free fabric (think white hospital bed sheets), wet it with Alcohol
and began rubbing the old shellac in an attempt to melt it and re-distribute it over the areas of the case where
the shellac had flaked off. There was quite a bit of finish missing, so the final result would be thin, but at least
the wood would be fully protected again. If you're going to try this remember, you're not trying to clean the finish,
so don't flip the rag around too much. The dark build up that forms on the rag is some of the old shellac that you've
pulled off, if you keep using that spot on the rag, you will remove less finish. If you flip the rag to a new spot, you'll
start pulling shellac off again.

Anyway, here's the final result after re-amalg, and one VERY thin French polish (with 1 pound cut).









Ya, I know, it's a little bright.

That's where the next several days of drying, then several days of rubbing with steel wool and bees wax come in...

Here she is toned down...







and those pesky corners...






The pictures taken in the workshop actually make it look much lighter than it actually is. The machine came to me
with a very dark patina and I was lucky enough to be able to retain that without any artificial stains, toners, or
shellacs.

The Final Result.











I left the felt sitting on the turntable to dry.
Here's another quick hint, if you have a new felt and a rusty old turntable,
use the felt as a rag to clean the turntable. It dirties it up just enough so it
doesn't look like a perfect round field of astroturf.

Well that's it for me, I hope you enjoyed the journey and that I didn't offend or upset too many of you
with my horrible childish humor.

Thanks for following along, please enjoy the closing parade.
(10 hours of it) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBPfnj8_4W4[/youtube]

[Curt A]

Great job, good entertainment and the humor goes a long way toward making a tedious, boring project seem like a lot of fun...

[Phono-Phan]

Thanks for your great posts on the Victor M and the youtube links. There isn't enough time in the day to watch them to the end. I have figured out the ringing in my ears is actually a yodel.
Anyway, I am wondering if the back bracket is correct for this M. The end of the tone arm is too close to the turntable. By the time you put a needle in the reproducer, the angle of the needle to the record will be pretty low.

[Victrolaboy]

Fantastic job! There will be a Victor Monarch in my future (as well as all the other machines on my wish list). The only external horn phonographs I have are both cylinder machines.

[Jerry B.]

This has been one of the most entertaining threads in Forum history. It was an honor to provide the Grumpy Guy with such a dreadfully pathetic project. DeeDee and I are going to Winchester Bay this weekend. While there, we are going to watch the unloading of things brought up from the wreck of the Peter Iredell which went aground and sank in 1905. With any luck there will be a barnacle encrusted blob that only I will recognize as an Edison Standard. When it's tossed back into the bay I will use my life guard skills to re-rescue it and send it to Mr. Grumpy. The thread will be titled "Follow the Restoration II".
*
I have only one question. Is it too late to get the Victor M back? Jerry Blais

[CarlosV]

Great job and very entertaining!