What Finish Is This?

[SonnyPhono]

I hope I am not thinking too hard here. What finish is this? It looks different than the oak finish that I see on other phonographs so I thought I would ask. Is it just an oak finish or something different?

Thanks!

[estott]

I'd say that's a Fumed Oak finish.

[Neophone]

Estott,

I'm with you. From 1914 fumed oak was available for the VV-X according to LFTD, fourth printing.

Regards,
John

[SonnyPhono]

I thought it looked different. It definitely needs some work, mainly veneer issues. Is it tough to find matching veneer for this? The guy who has it sent me the picture and said to make an offer if I was interested. He has no interest in it at all. I don't know what to offer as I am not sure of the rarity/value of a fumed oak Victrola. Any suggestion?

[schweg]

I recently bought a fumed oak VV-XI and pd 200. It was in much better shape than this one. It has some slight issues on the lid but is in great shape otherwise. Hope this helps a bit with your decision.

Steve

[SonnyPhono]

Thanks for the info, Schweg. This one definitely needs some work, but I think it's worth the time and money. I don't think I will offer quite that much, but it's a good piece of mind.

[Brad]

I thought it looked different. It definitely needs some work, mainly veneer issues. Is it tough to find matching veneer for this? The guy who has it sent me the picture and said to make an offer if I was interested. He has no interest in it at all. I don't know what to offer as I am not sure of the rarity/value of a fumed oak Victrola. Any suggestion?

Hi Sonny,

Fumed oak is just white oak exposed to ammonia fumes, then finished with orange shellac. You can find quartersawn white oak veneer at either Woodcraft or Rocklers. The "tone" or color that you achieve is dependent on a few factors, most notably the amount of tannin in the oak, the amount of ammonia (concentration times exposure time), and the color and number of coats of shellac. The best you can do is experiment. When I fume furniture, I use 30% aqueous ammonia used for making blueprints. It is becoming harder to find and it is quite caustic and poisonous. Common household sudsy ammonia is only about 3% concentration. You can use this, but you may need to refresh the ammonia in the tent several times.

You also have the option of adding color to either the shellac, or wood (aniline dyes), but I have never done that as I have no sense of "what color to add to get to what I want.

It looks like a nice machine and should restore nicely. Personally, chips, scratches, dings, etc. just enhance the patina of age.

Post pictures if tackle it.

Good luck.