My New RCA Victor Portable

[Lah Ca]

Major Detail Correction

Ooops!

What I thought was a light flocking in the mouth of the horn has proven to be just a thick coating of dust ... well .... either that or I have vacuumed all the flocking off, but I don't think so.

It did look quite fuzzy and blue initially. I wanted to get the dirt out of the mouth so I put the vacuum cleaner on its drapes setting and started to clean gently with a soft brush. Now the finish in the horn mouth just looks like a marbled blue paint finish, exactly the same as the finish on the retainer strip for the horn that runs along the back of the case..

[Lah Ca]

Conservation Question 1: Rust

I am working on cleaning up the horn today. The flange around the inlet for the horn is of a much lower grade of steel than the horn itself, I think. It was quite badly surface rusted. I have taken a small wire brush and steel wool to it. I have painted it with a rust inhibiting paint - this was a necessity, I think. I chose a blue paint because I had it and because the general theme of the machine is blue. The case is actually a dark blue in bright sunlight, black under other illumination. The inside of the horn mouth is blue. The velvet on the platter is a blue-green. But the blue of the anti rust paint is too modern looking, too vividly electric - not that anyone will ever see this once the machine is back together. So I will use black paint for the second and any subsequent coats.

The question ...

There are various spots of minor rust on the exterior of the horn. I have polished these off with steel wool. Would it be advisable to wipe the horn down with an oiled cloth to help slow down corrosion? If this were a vintage woodworking hand tool I would use a rag with palm wax.

There are other bits of ferrous metal here and there that are rusting. The back of metal strip that serves as the horn retainer has a lot of light surface rust. The hinges of the case have a lot of light/moderate surface rust (as shall be shown in the next question).

[Lah Ca]

Conservation Question 2: Humidity Damage to Case Fabric

The machine has no water damage, but I suspect that it was once stored on a basement or garage concrete floor where the damp-wicking of the concrete greatly increased the humidity next to the floor. The bottom of the case (with the case closed and the handle and latches top side and the back and hinges down) has its fabric blistering. The fabric on one side has come loose.

The hinges, as noted above are rusty. This storage is probably why the horn flange is rusty - it is very close to the back/bottom of the case. So too with the retainer strip for the horn.

If this were a guitar or amp case, I would carefully make a small slit in the blisters with a razor knife, inject a small amount of a good quality white glue, work it around, squeeze out any surplus, clean it up with damp rags and cotton swabs, and then press and hold it until an initial bond is set (if it can't be clamped). The blistering could also just be left (stewed in its own juices rather than restored). However, the fabric which has come loose needs to be addressed. It could easily catch and tear. I would probably use a good white glue spread with flat toothpicks, work the glue around, clean up excess, tape the fabric down with painters tape, and then apply gentle pressure with a bar clamp.

Any thoughts here?

[HMVDevotee]

I had a similar problem, though not as severe, on an HMV 102 portable. I found that "white glues" that are water-based, dried very hard and were not compliant with the wood case as it expanded and contracted with humidity. That bond worked loose over time. I then turned to an old fashioned rubber cement (contact glue) applied with a syringe and worked under each "bubble." I finally put a compliant layer of cotton terrycloth material over the surface, followed by a board that was then clamped in place. The results held well with no areas coming loose. Contact cements typically set best when applied to both surfaces and let to partially air-dry before making "contact" between the two surfaces. My use made that impossible, and the drying time was much longer. I used a natural fiber pad (the terrycloth) over the rexine in order to allow some evaporation of the solvent of the glue assuming the rexine was even the slightest bit permeable.
There may be many products similar to "rubber cement" that you might try. Hope this helps.
Gavelcrack

[Lah Ca]

I had a similar problem, though not as severe, on an HMV 102 portable. I found that "white glues" that are water-based, dried very hard and were not compliant with the wood case as it expanded and contracted with humidity. That bond worked loose over time. I then turned to an old fashioned rubber cement (contact glue) applied with a syringe and worked under each "bubble." I finally put a compliant layer of cotton terrycloth material over the surface, followed by a board that was then clamped in place. The results held well with no areas coming loose. Contact cements typically set best when applied to both surfaces and let to partially air-dry before making "contact" between the two surfaces. My use made that impossible, and the drying time was much longer. I used a natural fiber pad (the terrycloth) over the rexine in order to allow some evaporation of the solvent of the glue assuming the rexine was even the slightest bit permeable.
There may be many products similar to "rubber cement" that you might try. Hope this helps.
Gavelcrack

Thanks for the suggestion.

Doing a bit of research, I found another suggestion that I might try. Someone suggested that if hide glue was initially used, gently ironing it with a piece of cloth between it and the iron might reset the hide glue and reattach the fabric.

[Lah Ca]

For bettor or worse, I tried the ironing method.

I laid a rag over the area I wanted to work on and then ironed heavily with a dry iron setting for cotton, fairly high.

The smell of the old glue was gross, but I was able to get the blisters out of the fabric and get it reattached to the case. I am left with a few wrinkles, though.

I am going to have to use glue for some of the edges.

I am also going to have buy my wife a new iron. Good thing she loves me.

Before and after pics. Not perfect but better.

[Lucius1958]

For bettor or worse, I tried the ironing method.

I laid a rag over the area I wanted to work on and then ironed heavily with a dry iron setting for cotton, fairly high.

The smell of the old glue was gross, but I was able to get the blisters out of the fabric and get it reattached to the case. I am left with a few wrinkles, though.

I am going to have to use glue for some of the edges.

I am also going to have buy my wife a new iron. Good thing she loves me.

Before and after pics. Not perfect but better.

Looks fairly decent, after the ironing. Not perfect, as you say, but pretty presentable. A new iron is a small price for domestic tranquility.

- Bill

[Inigo]

I should do the same on my black 101, as its side, between the little legs, is a bit loose, as if stored for some time in the portable suitcase position (legs down and handle up, ready to pick it) and the floor getting wet. I believe we keep an old iron (not vapour) in the basement...

[Lah Ca]

Feet

One last (I think) question. Should I try to replace the feet?

The eight feet on the case are quite worn and a bit crumbly. Set upright in suitcase orientation, the case partially rests on the hinges since the feet are now too thin to provide clearance. Set flat in play position, the case is a bit wobbly because the feet are uneven. Neither is a huge problem - nothing insurmountable.

I am torn between leaving it as is in all original condition (except for the three screws that secure the horn flange to the motorboard and the rust inhibiting paint on the flange) and replacing the feet for functional convenience.

Replacing the feet will be a pain because of the split-shaft clinch rivets. They will be challenging to extract without ripping the wood of the case. And in a number of places, it will be challenging to screw new feet in place because there is no clearance between the wood of the case and the horn. There are ways around this: using a countersink bit or a forstner bit to create a recess inside the case for either a tapered machine screw head or a nut and washer. But then the wood of the case is not that thick.

Or I could be lazy and unambitious and just get a variety of different thickness of peel and stick furniture felts (the ones that regularly fall off) and replace them as needed.

Or I could do nothing other than store the machine flat in play position and level and stabilise it with cardboard shims when in use - even lazier and less ambitious - but perhaps the most practical solution.

Thoughts/Opinions?

[Inigo]

At least I would add flat adhesive rubber feet, which you could adapt by careful cutting or grinding to achieve an horizontal level. The black rubber adhered on top of the existing feet would preserve them while serving the comfort of the user. I say rubber instead of felt, because the felt feet tend to slide when you wind the machine.
You could also glue cork slices to the old feet, and paint them in black. Cork also adheres to the table and the machine doesn't slide. I once made four cork feet for my hmv127, copying the original shape of the rubber ones, kind of a demi-sphere with a thick long tail which enters into the hole in the wooden leg. Seems a mushroom upside down. They fit marvelously. I made them out of good hard dense wine bottles corks.