HMV Model 97B portable, in red color

[Curt A]

About rust on nickel plated areas, like the case lock, do you use a rust remover, or do you ever nickel plate the nickel parts all over?

To remove "light surface rust" on nickel plated areas, what has worked for me is to use #0000 (the finest) steel wool, wet it with some lubricant and gently wipe it over the rusted area until gone, or diminished. "Gently" is the key word, don't polish through the plating... Very fine steel wool is not too aggressive to use and I have used it on many parts with no negative effects, as long as it is lubricated before using it. Normally this eliminates the idea of re-plating parts and improves the appearance greatly depending on how deep the rust goes. If the rust is deeper than surface, the part can be polished with a Dremel tool almost to the point of looking re-plated.

[nostalgia]

Thank you, Curt. The information was very much appreciated. I have earlier tried #0000 steel wool, but not with a total success. I have however never added a lubricant first, and that is very likely why my success rate has been low. Any particular lubricant you would recommend? Sewing machine oil, maybe it really doesn't matter? Polishing with a Dremel tool for rust that goes deep also is a good idea, thanks a lot. Avoiding nickel plating, is of course a plus, also because I do not have such equipment.

[epigramophone]

I use fine steel wool in conjunction with Solvol Autosol metal polish, which comes in a tube and has the consistency of toothpaste.
To clean the case lock I would first remove it and then apply the metal polish with an old toothbrush, which will reach all the crevices.

[nostalgia]

Thank you, Roger:) I love product names, makes it all so much simpler. And on these occasions I don't always feel a need to reinvent the wheel, it is often much better using a product that to you longtime collectors and restorers hav used for some time, and this way has proven its value.

[Curt A]

The metal polish that was mentioned is a good idea and as far as a lubricant goes, sewing machine oil or practically any other lubricant will work and also keep the bare metal from re-rusting... Another metal polish that I have used and like very much is Simichrome. You should be able to find it on Amazon or another online source...

[Marco Gilardetti]

Quite scary really, that reputable companies as far back in 1938 started to think about ways to save money when manufacturing gramophones, instead of making them solid.

The more you will go ahead, the more you will see all sort of things also on expensive machines: nails instead of screws, pot metal instead of brass, cardboard instead of wood, *huge* cases fitted with itty-bitty horns, and so on.

Marco, if you read this, can I ask what brand of shoe polish you use? I have some days ago ordered a small arsenal of different "Cherry Blossom" shoe cream, and hope it will work fine, but if you use a different brand and are happy with it, I would still like to take note of it.

I have to remember to look at home, I can't recall the brand right now; I buy it in a hyper-specialised cobbler's provider shop. I'm happy or unhappy with it depending on the sides we consider. It's very covering so, as said, it usually doesn't require any pre-painting, and as such is almost ideal with portables that are really "far gone". Conversely, I have the impression that it would cover even too much portables that are almost OK, as I suspect that the texture of the fabrikoid would be flattened out to some degree; but I usually leave these gramophones as they are, so I can't really say. You can perhaps take a look to this old thread to see the effects of these products: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=23180&start=10

[epigramophone]

[quote="nostalgia"] Quite scary really, that reputable companies as far back in 1938 started to think about ways to save money when manufacturing gramophones, instead of making them solid.

HMV successfully sold premium products to the mass market, but the 1930's were hard times for many people and there was generally less money about.
HMV wanted a share of the lower price sector, and their first attempt at a budget portable was the Model 99. It was by HMV standards a cheap and nasty machine, and was not the commercial success for which they had hoped. Columbia and Decca portables, to name but two, offered much better value for money.
As a result the Model 99 is nowhere near as commonly found today as it's successor the Model 97, and sometimes makes surprising prices.

[nostalgia]

Thank you Curt, for also posting the photo of the metal polish. Marco, yes I remember reading this thread, where you beautifully restored this Columbia 160, it for sure is an inspiration in my work. I have this Columbia 160 myself, but am not exactly sure if I should use shoe polish on it or not, since it looks quite good as it is, and knowing that shoe polish may flatten out the texture. Your 160 looks great though! And yes, I have also already witnessed that saving money in production is not entirely a new thing, one can see this also on gramophones made early in the acoustic gramophone era, and I believe it was not always because of hard times, but simply to get higher profits.
And Roger, yes it makes sense that the manufacturers had to find shortcuts in the late 1930's because of the hard times and less money. I wish they had kept the corner shields though;) The model 99 is not a good looking machine, I agree on that, even if I not yet have come across a model 99, it seems from its look to have too much in common with portables HMV had better not being compared to. Still, if I ever find a nice specimen of this model 99, I will still buy it, for the sake of completion, and even for exposing/ learning, how it "better not should have been done"...