Best Places to take for re-amalgamation

[Ben the phono man]

Hello all,

The left bottom door of my VE-130 has a sizable amount of shellac loss/dirty finish, and while I've done the rest of the cabinet, I would like to take this especially bad area of finish to a professional, I don't want to ruin a rare machine. Is there anyone who would be willing to do this for me in the central New jersey area? I would be open to anyone who has a spare left bottom door in mahogany as well, though the re-amalgamation service would be preferred. I would be happy to do a trade or something for your labor. At this stage in my collecting, I don't feel ready at all to attempt something like this on such a visible area of the cabinet. lets just say its pretty bad as it sits...

Thanks in advance

[Ben the phono man]

Hello all,

The left bottom door of my VE-130 has a sizable amount of shellac loss/dirty finish, and while I've done the rest of the cabinet, I would like to take this especially bad area of finish to a professional, I don't want to ruin a rare machine. Is there anyone who would be willing to do this for me in the central New jersey area? I would be open to anyone who has a spare left bottom door in mahogany as well, though the re-amalgamation service would be preferred. I would be happy to do a trade or something for your labor. At this stage in my collecting, I don't feel ready at all to attempt something like this on such a visible area of the cabinet. lets just say its pretty bad as it sits...

Thanks in advance

At this point I may have to resort to sourcing a new bottom door. if anyone has one, please let me know.

Thanks!

[BillH_NJ]

Good luck with that!

Bill

[Ben the phono man]

Good luck with that!

Bill

Thanks Bill, We'll see how this goes...

[martinola]

Ben,

I don't think you will ever find somebody that is foolish enough to offer "re-amalgamation" as a service. There is no way to predict the outcome and it takes loads of time. Much of it depends on the damage itself but also the type of finish. You can really only do it to a shellac finish. Most of the Victor finishes to 1925 had a top layer of varnish. If you can get the top layer off but leave the shellac/stain sealer layer, you have a chance, but even then, unless you do the rest of the front of the machine, the repair will stand out. Replacing the door may be the better option, but you still may have fit/color differences.

If it were me, I'd ask myself if I could live with it for a while. I'd also be looking for a cheap VV-90 or VV-X with similar damage to practice re-amalgamation on. If you can pull that off, you will have an idea what you'll be in for on the 130. I have no doubt you can do it - it will depend on whether you feel you want to invest your time. Sometimes, just learning not to point to the damage shouting "LOOK!" is the best cure for the problem.

Regards,
Martin