Worlds Collide - Victor R Thread from Phono-L

[DrGregC]

Although this is a relatively small hobby, there is a certain amount of separatism when dealing with the various newsgroups and message boards. Like most on this forum, I also subscribe to Loran's Phono-L. There has been recent discussion about what to do with a Victor R whose original finish is gone. This might be akin to Seinfeld's "Two Worlds Collide", but I would like to post some pictures on TMF of my Victor R after master restorationist Steve Farmer recreated the original oxidized copper finish.

When I purchased this Victor R I felt it was a nice specimen with an original horn and an intact 1902 paper label. I tried many of the suggested things to restore the original finish without success. Steve Farmer was recommended to me after seeing some the magnificent work he had done on high-end machines like the Idelia. Given the choice of a dirty and unsightly oxidized finish or the re-creation, I was happy to have Steve work his magic. If it's good enough for an Idelia, it's good enough for a Victor R. Somewhere in my home, I have the "before" pictures, but I could not find them.

I trust Steve Farmer. He can be reached at: [email protected]

[AZ*]

Looks great. Like you, I prefer original finishes, but if it is too far gone, a first class restoration/refinish makes sense.

Steve Farmer's work is magical.

[DrGregC]

This has been an interesting carry-over thread. Is George P. interested in posting pictures of his early Victor R with the dull gray finish?

[Starkton]

This has been an interesting carry-over thread. Is George P. interested in posting pictures of his early Victor R with the dull gray finish?

Thank you for opening the thread on this forum.

After first reading I began to wonder about the following passage from phono-l:
"As for the hardware, the horn support and motor bedplate was a dull or dirty grey/silver.? It looked like spray paint.? I left it as it was.? Some years later...maybe in the 1980's I learned that the Victor P's (and R's) had the oxidized bronze, tiger finish.? I tried a little paint remover and WALLA!? I had a tiger striped, bronze oxidized Victor P after all!?"

Do I understand the above correctly that after removing the dull grey finish the oxidized bronze came to light?

[phonogfp]

This has been an interesting carry-over thread. Is George P. interested in posting pictures of his early Victor R with the dull gray finish?

Happy to oblige. A couple of points to bear in mind:

1) The support arm shown in these photos is genuine, but was NOT originally supplied this particular machine. I bought this machine in September 1973 and it was missing both arms, sound box, elbow, and horn. The original support arm had a dull gray finish to match the rest of it. As I wrote on Phono-L, I'd be happy to trade this original oxidized bronze support arm for an original gray one.

2) The other 2 or 3 examples I've seen with this metal finish had low serial numbers, as does this one. Unfortunately, I didn't keep a record of those other numbers, but one sold on eBay a few years ago. Perhaps a member of this board owns it.

Here are the photos - -

George P.

[Kirkwood]

That's a remarkably fine restoration job on the Victor finish. Congrats to the restorer and to the owner!

As a somewhat off-topic observation, I am encouraged to see that---at long last---people now appreciate this unique and short-lived black-and-bronze-striped finish. I work at a shop that sells antique hardware and lighting fixtures. For many years, especially in the 1980s, the "look that sells" was polished brass. I saw many fine doorknob sets, gasoliers and early electric fixtures with restore-able original striped finishes buffed back down to the underlying brass. One day we got in a fixture, a black-and-bronze gas-electric combination, that was just too pristine to buff down. It was one of those rare instances where it looked almost as if it had just been removed from the packing crate. We only cleaned and waxed the original finish, and replaced deteriorated wiring. It sold almost immediately, and so did the others like it that followed. Maybe people's tastes have caught up with the authentic turn-of-the-century look. At long last.

Once you see this finish as it was intended to look, as with this Victor R, it's a bit easier to see how it appealed the turn-of-the-century consumer.

[Edisone]

Mom, upon seeing the first couple of pics: "Oh, what's that? How big is that?" Me, indicating with my hands about how big: "___" . Mom: "That's so cute! Why don't you collect those, unstead of those big ugly things?" . Me: "*sigh*" .

[DrGregC]

I knew I had the "before" pictures around here somewhere. The front horn support arm had the best original finish and that was after meticulous cleaning. The rest of the metal components almost look like George P.'s dull gray machine, but, if you look closely, you will see some copper showing through.

For anyone thinking of taking on this project, I should warn you that it has taken several years of normal environmental exposure for the exposed copper areas on the refinish to tone down and blend more harmoniously with the rest of the machine.

[phonogfp]

Yes - even with badly aged Victor Rs, one can usually spot a bit of copper near a screw on a corner brace or a splotch under the turntable. Greg, your Royal has come a long way!

George P.