Columbia AH barn find + great transformation

[phonosandradios]

The plating around the edge of the soundbox really did come up well. Did you just use metal polish to remove the dirt and buff it up? What kind of horn would go with this machine?

It looks really nice even without the missing parts

[Mormon S]

Beautiful Job!

How in the world did you ever remove the paint splatters from the decal without damaging it?

Bob S.

I essentially had to scrape the paint down with a scalpel until I reached the shellac layer. Unfortunately I did chip of some decal and finish in some areas, but it was almost inevitable and its hard to see from normal distances. I'm not completely sure what type of paint it was, but it was really stuck on there and didn't chip off in segments

The plating around the edge of the soundbox really did come up well. Did you just use metal polish to remove the dirt and buff it up? What kind of horn would go with this machine?

It looks really nice even without the missing parts

I used brasso for some basic polishing. I know its not great for high end restorations and is high on abrasives, However Its cheap and works great for casual use and cleaning. Here is a picture with the horn I need. I want one that needs restoration since I want a little bit of artistic liberty. I think it would look beautiful if it had flowers on the side like the horns made by the Standard Metal Manufacturing Company.

Martin

[VanEpsFan1914]

It might look pretty well decorated if you can find a rusted-out horn. I'm just sending the horn from my Victor off tomorrow as I sold it to buy a morning-glory horn; as it's rather rusted & needs paint (the new one) I am debating flowers on the inside of it as well, like Tim Fabrizio's restorations on phonophan.com that I used to look at when I was very small. Used to tell myself I'd have a phonograph like that one day when I was big, but I was a pessimistic and annoying little kid and figured "nope, you'll never be able to afford it." Which was not altogether wrong.

If you want flowers painted by a master, let me know; I know someone who does a marvelous job at it & will have to get her contact info. She's an older schoolteacher who did a horn for me & I rather liked it--we modernized the traditional flowers-in-the-bell design. Or you could try single-brushing it; I'm kind of thinking about doing single-brush painting & figuring out my own flowers. They say for a rose all you do is paint a pink cabbage.

[SydneyAde]

Martin, Here is a picture with the top arm like yours. I reproduced about 100 sets of these arms. Mine had an aluminum cradle that stuck into the hole. Mine also had the bottom arm that said Columbia though. I also included a picture of the Columbia AJ arms that I use to reproduce. Yours look good the way it is. I would leave it that way. GOOD FIND!!! Tom

Hi Tom

Just inquisitive to know if there was much shrinkage with the reproductions you had produced and have pictured there?

Adam, the guy with the basket case Columbia (thread on this forum) used an old advertisement of a Columbia AH to scale the approximate dimensions of both arms and they pretty well line up with what I have, so I'm just curious.

Ade

[oliver]

Spectacular transformation! Congratulations on such a fine acqiuisition.

[AZ*]

Spectacular transformation! Congratulations on such a fine acqiuisition.

ditto!

[fran604g]

Fantastic Martin, congratulations!

[Mormon S]

After all this time I finally located a horn, and it is really beautiful! It also plays wondefully, although the motor is a tad loud. Here are some pictures and a video

https://youtu.be/PNWONOGuL_g

Martin

[outune]

Beautiful work, Martin -- I've always loved the early AH cases--- Your dog doesn't seem all that interested-- perhaps a bit annoyed that you disturbed his sleep If you can just get him to sit up and tilt his head!

Be proud of that restoration-- You did a great job.

Brad Abell

[Fonotone]

What a gorgeous phonograph, Martin. Great work!
-- Grant