Another phonograph followed me home, and there are questions

[FloridaClay]

The crank opening was not drilled quite in the location it should have been to line up with the motor shaft. Their solution? Move the crank escutcheon a bit to the right. But this meant that the left escutcheon screw was too close to the edge of the hole to get a good bite into the wood. Solution for that, use a nut and bolt instead of a wood screw on that side.

Both these things have obviously been that way since day one as there are no extra screw holes, or anything else, to show that something was changed later.
Clay

Everyone is free to do with their machine has they see fit. However, unless I'm reading this wrong...you are doing more harm than good. In my opinion, it is always better to leave a machine as it left the factory whenever possible. This is not a modern mass produced "perfect" item. These were still put together by hands and will have unique issues and imperfections. In my opinion, that is part of the charm and character of a machine.

I noticed in an earlier post you showed the data plate retaining it's wonderful (rarely found nice) silver wash.
In my opinion, that data plate looked great. However, in your more recent pics, the data plate now seems to have lost most of that silver wash. Nipper now looks brass in color. If that is the case and not just the pic....that's too bad.. .
One can be a bit over zealous when cleaning a new toy. Sometimes it's better to clean less...IMHO...

You are incorrect. Only the dirt was removed. The silver wash is still there, apart from what had worn away over time. The principal difference is that now you can actually see more of it!

Clay

[gramophone78]

The crank opening was not drilled quite in the location it should have been to line up with the motor shaft. Their solution? Move the crank escutcheon a bit to the right. But this meant that the left escutcheon screw was too close to the edge of the hole to get a good bite into the wood. Solution for that, use a nut and bolt instead of a wood screw on that side.

Both these things have obviously been that way since day one as there are no extra screw holes, or anything else, to show that something was changed later.
Clay

Everyone is free to do with their machine has they see fit. However, unless I'm reading this wrong...you are doing more harm than good. In my opinion, it is always better to leave a machine as it left the factory whenever possible. This is not a modern mass produced "perfect" item. These were still put together by hands and will have unique issues and imperfections. In my opinion, that is part of the charm and character of a machine.

I noticed in an earlier post you showed the data plate retaining it's wonderful (rarely found nice) silver wash.
In my opinion, that data plate looked great. However, in your more recent pics, the data plate now seems to have lost most of that silver wash. Nipper now looks brass in color. If that is the case and not just the pic....that's too bad.. .
One can be a bit over zealous when cleaning a new toy. Sometimes it's better to clean less...IMHO...

You are incorrect. Only the dirt was removed. The silver wash is still there, apart from what had worn away over time. The principal difference is that now you can actually see more of it!

Clay

Thank goodness it's just the pic.. .

restoration 2.jpg (137.92 KiB) Viewed 787 times

[FloridaClay]

The lower picture was made by the person from whom I bought the machine and is of poor quality. I am not certain that it is even of the same plate, as it does not seem to show the black gunk that was on several places on the real plate. It was so thick over the first part of the serial number that it was hard to read. The seller had told me that the first digit of the serial number was 3, which was not that bad a guess considering what little of it you could see. It actually turned out to be a 5 when the dirt was removed. There is likely still a little bit of dirt, particularly around the outer rim, as I did not want to get too aggressive with it.

Clay

[gramophone78]

The lower picture was made by the person from whom I bought the machine and is of poor quality. I am not certain that it is even of the same plate, as it does not seem to show the black gunk that was on several places on the real plate. It was so thick over the first part of the serial number that it was hard to read. The seller had told me that the first digit of the serial number was 3, which was not that bad a guess considering what little of it you could see. It actually turned out to be a 5 when the dirt was removed. There is likely still a little bit of dirt, particularly around the outer rim, as I did not want to get too aggressive with it.

Clay

I can see how an early font 3 can be misread as a 5. They both have a flat top... . Can you show us the plate now that you cleaned it..?. It must look great because it looks fantastic in the top pic I show in the last post.
What did you use to clean the silver wash...?. It is normally so fragile. I personally avoid data plates like the plague for fear of ruining it.... .

I see what you mean about the plate being dirty. However, these two pics appear to be the same machine (before & after) taken at the same spot. Are there two Vic. II's..??. I ask, because the one close up pic shows a wonderful plate with at least 90% of it's silver wash intact.. .

I should add that the case color in the "after" pic looks nice and rich compared to "before". What did you use on the case to restore the color..?.Looks fantastic..!!.

2016-01-15 10.53.26.jpg (148.46 KiB) Viewed 771 times

[FloridaClay]

The lower picture was made by the person from whom I bought the machine and is of poor quality. I am not certain that it is even of the same plate, as it does not seem to show the black gunk that was on several places on the real plate. It was so thick over the first part of the serial number that it was hard to read. The seller had told me that the first digit of the serial number was 3, which was not that bad a guess considering what little of it you could see. It actually turned out to be a 5 when the dirt was removed. There is likely still a little bit of dirt, particularly around the outer rim, as I did not want to get too aggressive with it.

Clay

I can see how an early font 3 can be misread as a 5. They both have a flat top... . Can you show us the plate now that you cleaned it..?. It must look great because it looks fantastic in the top pic I show in the last post.
What did you use to clean the silver wash...?. It is normally so fragile. I personally avoid data plates like the plague for fear of ruining it.... .

I see what you mean about the plate being dirty. However, these two pics appear to be the same machine (before & after) taken at the same spot. Are there two Vic. II's..??. I ask, because the one close up pic shows a wonderful plate with at least 90% of it's silver wash intact.. .

2016-01-15 10.53.26.jpg

DSC00166.JPG

One machine. The location for these 2 in your most recent post (different pictures) is my kitchen counter. The upper one is the before and the lower one is after. (The upper one was made with my cell phone and the colors are a bit washed out, the lower one with a good camera.) The clear close up in your earlier post is also one of my "after" pictures--the final result. The fuzzy one was from the Texas seller's eBay listing.

The cleaning was with 0000 steel wool moistened with Kotton Klenser applied with gentle pressure and frequent checking to make sure the wash and paint were not being damaged. This was followed by an application of auto wax to provide a bit of protection.

Clay

[gramophone78]

The lower picture was made by the person from whom I bought the machine and is of poor quality. I am not certain that it is even of the same plate, as it does not seem to show the black gunk that was on several places on the real plate. It was so thick over the first part of the serial number that it was hard to read. The seller had told me that the first digit of the serial number was 3, which was not that bad a guess considering what little of it you could see. It actually turned out to be a 5 when the dirt was removed. There is likely still a little bit of dirt, particularly around the outer rim, as I did not want to get too aggressive with it.

Clay

I can see how an early font 3 can be misread as a 5. They both have a flat top... . Can you show us the plate now that you cleaned it..?. It must look great because it looks fantastic in the top pic I show in the last post.
What did you use to clean the silver wash...?. It is normally so fragile. I personally avoid data plates like the plague for fear of ruining it.... .

I see what you mean about the plate being dirty. However, these two pics appear to be the same machine (before & after) taken at the same spot. Are there two Vic. II's..??. I ask, because the one close up pic shows a wonderful plate with at least 90% of it's silver wash intact.. .

2016-01-15 10.53.26.jpg

DSC00166.JPG

One machine. The location for these 2 in your most recent post (different pictures) is my kitchen counter. The upper one is the before and the lower one is after. (The upper one was made with my cell phone and the colors are a bit washed out, the lower one with a good camera.) The clear close up in your earlier post is also an "after" picture. The fuzzy one was from the Texas seller's eBay listing.

The cleaning was with 0000 steel wool moistened with Kotton Klenser applied with gentle pressure and frequent checking to make sure the wash and paint were not being damaged. This was followed by an application of auto wax to provide a bit of protection.

Clay

Well, I think it looks fantastic. Once on the matching record cabinet....you'll have a real beauty.

You were very brave to use steel wool on a data plate. I would have been sweating bullets doing that. I have seen the silver wash come off using far less. Way to go!!... .

[FloridaClay]

I have gone back and done some digging. I should not rely on memory so much as my age. Now I see what is going on.

A correction. The fuzzy picture is, as of course you know gramophone78, not from the seller. From tracing the photo file number you snipped out a section of one of my after pictures earlier in this thread, which was not all that crisp to begin with, and blew it up, thus all the distortion. Not a good way to get accurate detail nor make an informed judgement! Both of the pictures in your Mon Jan 18, 2016 2:20 pm post are of the same plate in the same post-cleaning condition. No wonder the fuzzy one does not show the dirt! It is just that the fuzzy picture is pretty worthless.


However, I did find a clear picture of the plate from the Texas seller which, with my "after" close up, gives an accurate comparison.

Clay

[gramophone78]

I have gone back and done some digging. I should not rely on memory so much as my age. Now I see what is going on.

A correction. The fuzzy picture is, as of course you know gramophone78, not from the seller. From tracing the photo file number you snipped out a section of one of my after pictures earlier in this thread, which was not all that crisp to begin with, and blew it up, thus all the distortion. Not a good way to get accurate detail nor make an informed judgement!

However, I did find a clear picture of the plate from the Texas seller which, with my "after" close up, gives an accurate comparison.

Clay

Thanks Clay. I was a bit confused myself. However, as I wrote in my first post "If that is the case and not just the pic" ( being not very clear) causing Nipper to look brass in color in your one "after" cleaning pic.

No question, you made a world of difference to the data plate... .