Need to Restore Machine in Washington, D.C. Area

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I picked up an old Victrola machine, and live in the Washington, D.C. area. Any suggestions on someone who could repair the machine? It has all the original working parts (I think).

-a

[Zeppy]

What did you pick up and, kind of restoration are you looking for? Many moons ago, there was someone from around York, PA that would come down to the Georgetown fea market that did complete restorations. I haven't been back to the flea market in a few years, so I don't know if they still show up. Generally, I do my own cabinet restoration, but send motors out for servicing (I've done a few myself, but it's more frustration than it's worth, and I rather just have someone else do it).

[John Svensson]

More info needed.......as Zeppy said, if it is the motor you are worried about than just mailing the motor board off for work is easist. Walt Somers lives just West of Gettysburg and does all restoration work....he has a website and is Cyber_Tiger on Ebay if I recall. No commercial relationship with Walt on my part.

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It's a VV-XI that was manufactured in 1920. I have the hand crank, but it's just not catching. I turn and turn and turn, but nothing happens.

[Zeppy]

More than likely, the springs are broken. The best solution is to pop the motor and motorboard out, pack it up, and send it UPS ground to be repaired. You probably want to do some calling around to find the best bet. With a XI, repairs can quickly surpass the value of the machine.

For motor work, I have had Bill Meyer

http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V ... disonphono

and the Victrola Repair Service

http://www.victrolarepairservice.com/

do rebuilds for me. Bill is probably the most reasonably priced person I've dealt with, and he does very good work. The Victrola Repair Service rebuild was for a rare motor, with damage to some hard to come by parts...they certainly were pricier, but also did a good job. But for what should be a relatively straight forward XI, I'd call Bill up.

One final option is to stalk eBay, and try to replace the motor entirely. Pay attention to the description, and make sure they say the motor works well. The motor that went into the XI for that period is fairly common, and they turn up all the time. It won't run as well as a motor that had been just new springs put in, and cleaned and regreased, but it would be your least expensive path (as long as you pay very close attention to what you're bidding on, and make sure it's exactly the same motor as you have.)