My first Victor talking machine and info on it's restoration

[AmberolaAndy]

Yup that’s a great job! Thankfully Murphy’s Law didn’t happen and you didn’t had to send it to a pro to fix the extra damage that happened in the process like this guy right here lol! And a lot less swearing too!

[Herderz]

I started to polish some of the hardware. The winding crank face to the case I was able to polish, it was still nickel plated with not to much deuteriation to the plating. The crank was not so pretty, I was able to polish the steel to a high shine but there is no nickel left on it. This is were I was going to do some first time plating along with other parts.

I polished the door knobs as best I could, got just a little brass showing through as the plating is very thin.

The tonearm mount to the horn I repainted because it was in such bad state and got it looking pretty good.

After starting the motor in the case I heard a gear tooth thump on each turn of the turntable shaft. After I marked the 360 degree thump I was able to see some burring in the drive gear and I dressed the flat of the gear with a stone and then put a slight chaffer on the gear teeth to quiet the movement of the governor shaft.

I tried to clean up the speed control knob plate and the turntable brake which were very rusted up. Not much luck here but maybe I can find some replacements in the future.

I am still waiting on new ball bearings for the tonearm and new mica for the reproducer that should be in at any time.

[JerryVan]

Your crank bushing is in backwards. The hub that sticks out is meant to slip into the cabinet.

[Herderz]

Thanks Jerry, I did not know that. It was the way I got it. I turned it around.

[JerryVan]

Thanks Jerry, I did not know that. It was the way I got it. I turned it around.

You're doing an awesome job!

[Herderz]

I got my ball bearings and mica in. I polished the tonearm flange so the new bearings would roll smoothly and installed the tonearm. It glides smoothly back and forth with no play in the arm.

I installed the mica into the reproducer after cleaning all screws, nuts and springs. I got the diaphragm from Walt Sommers and he included some very detailed instructions on dis-assembly installing and adjusting the reproducer. I got it back together and man I can not believe the difference in the sound. Very crisp and loud for such a small machine. I had replaced the seals with the old mica and it improved the sound but I must of not had it adjusted right and or the sloppy tonearm because of the missing ball. I like what I hear now.

[Inigo]

Congrats!

[Herderz]

Thanks Inigo, well I played 20 or so recordings this weekend and she sounds beautiful. While I was listening to the sweet music I decided that someone else's cabinet refinish was not to my standard, not knowing what they started with it might of looked great to them. But I can do a little better for a machine that I will call my own, original is out the door at this point. The thought pattern was that I can take it as is and buy another one that I don't really need to work on or just nurse this machine a little further. I am going with the latter. I broke the machine down again.

I striped the wood down and spent a few day sanding the case. I am going a different route than probably most of you have not thought of. My past experiences have included many types of finishes, I am going with a linseed oil multi coat finish. Linseed oil finish for wood is probably the oldest in history, first used by the Egyptians. I am going to use a "Tru-Oil" multi-coat application to bring the machine to a grain filling smooth surface. It is used as the number one finish in gun stocks among other applications. It is faster than pure linseed oil finish because of the dry time. Pure linseed oil finish takes 1 week dry time per coating which can take months to get a mirror finish, "Tru-Oil will dry in 24 hours between coats and steel wool buff and 1 week final coat dry time until use. Mainly a 2 week process. The finish is applied with your finger, coating the wood in smooth strokes as it is like applying thin oil to a surface. It is so labor intense that most people do not know about it. As to why, I do clock work, gun smith work and many more adventures as I still breath. I will show my results but it will take a while.

[JerryVan]

Wow. Very interesting. Looking forward to your updates!

[Herderz]

Well I thought I would do a update on the case finish. I have been coating the pieces with linseed oil finish (Tru-Oil) by hand just using my finger. It will take quite a few coats to fill in the open grain of the quarter saw oak.

After each coat has dried for 24 hours I "lightly" buff the finish with 0000 steel wool and use a tack cloth to remove wool particles and dust before coating again. After about 4 coats you can start to buff deeper into the finish to speed up the filling process. This is what it looks like after 8 coats. The grain is almost completely filled.

The finish is starting to have a satiny look to it after the 0000 buff. I will probably need about 12 coats to get the finish I want. After drying for a week I will use a sheen polish on the finish to give it a nice smooth satin finish. I don't think gloss finish would look right.