Project: Columbia Grafonola "Favorite"

[martinola]

Hi Mike.
Cool project! Thin coats of shellac can dry to the touch in as little as 15 minutes. You build up the finish in coats, sanding between. When you are done building up the coats, final sand, followed up by polishing. I can't imagine shellac would perform any worse in a dusty area than what you propose. Obviously in both cases less dust would be better. In any case, good luck with the restoration!
Martin

[RefSeries]

To give you a target I usually go for cylinder machines but picked one of these up at an auction. You know the sort of thing; not my line, but isn't expensive, etc. A bit of spit and polish and a set of gaskets later I had quite a surprise. It is quite the loudest machine I possess, and sounds great!

You will find it worth the effort, I am sure.

Keith

[Bad_Photographer]

Martin: Ok, I'll take that under consideration. There's a LOT of surface area to tackle on this gramophone. In comparison, the Victor VI was a piece of cake. The fluted lid, the columns, the louvers...I have to seriously consider whether the work involved in using shellac is worth the spend of my time. On the other hand, in doing some additional reading, shellac is the only product that, regardless whether it's to restore it to period appearance, will yield the sort of finish this piece really deserves.

Keith: I don't yet own a cylinder machine. It's a goal but I've never found an Edison of the type(s) I really want, that were affordable at the time they were available, but I always keep my eyes peeled. Regarding this gramophone - I agree. I've read many opinions from owners who say exactly the same thing. There's a Youtube video out there that demonstrates (somewhat) the quality of the tone and volume. There seems to be an awful lot of prejudice against Columbia machines, some of it is deserved from the perspective of Columbia's utter lack of documentation regarding the gramophones they produced; prejudice against build quality, motors, performance - simply isn't. Ok, the use of pot-metal on the tone arm as if it were an odd-name brand is a little hard to justify, but there are a lot of owners out there that own Victor, Edison, HMV and Pathé Bros gramophones who also own Columbia machines and they have nothing but praise for them. The 3-spring motor in this particular model line (50, D, D2) is top-shelf. I won't name him, but the bias demonstrated by the fellow who runs the "Value of Phonographs" site, when collectors are using the Internet more and more to search for pertinent information regarding their cylinder and disc machines, is neither helpful nor appreciated. I'm 55 years-old and have been in love with these machines since I was a boy and am an avid collector of Shellac and Vinyl. A site like that really does a disservice in my opinion.

I asked this question before - perhaps you can answer it: The thumb control that engages the motor and also engages the double-stopped brake also controls speed on mine. The "pointer," although I can see that it engages the thumb control in some manner, otherwise seems to have no function and swings left and right past the "dial." It doesn't appear to be broken otherwise - what am I missing in its operation?

[Bad_Photographer]

Hello,

The question on the speed control has been answered very kindly by De Soto Frank on a separate post.

Mike