new to board, need help with refinish

[memde]

Just purchased a Victor VV-XI. This will be my second restore (first one was a Victor VV-IV)
The previous owner had tried to renew the finish using the Formby's stuff. Needless to say the finish is now less than what I'd like.
Any ideas on how I can make the finish look good again? Will I have to do a total strip/stain/refinish?

Thanks in advance!
Matt

[martinola]

Welcome to the board, Matt!
From your description, it does sound like you may need to do the strip, stain and finish route. However, I'd recommend posting some photos here and letting us see what your current finish looks like. Maybe one of us will have some insight that can save you some grief. At the very least, you'll have some cool "before" pictures that will stun people in the future. ("That thing started out looking like that pile of trash?!!") Anyway, you get the idea. The main thing is to not be in a hurry. While the VV-XI isn't a particularly rare or valuable machine, they are well built and fun to use. Please let us know your progress on your restoration.

Regards,
Martin

[memde]

not sure how to post a photo, but bigger problems have come up. I took out the springs for cleaning and the second spring is broken at the end that hooks on to the barrel. can this be fixed or should I order new springs?

[memde]

maybe this image will work

[alang]

not sure how to post a photo, but bigger problems have come up. I took out the springs for cleaning and the second spring is broken at the end that hooks on to the barrel. can this be fixed or should I order new springs?

I saw you figured out yourself how to post pictures.

If a spring is only broken at the end that hooks on to the barrel it can be fixed relatively easily. Breaks in the middle are more of a pain...

After cleaning the spring use a blow torch or similar to heat about 3 inches of the end of the spring where it is broken. This will allow you to cut and drill the spring. Cut off the broken part and try to form a round and smooth end, so you don't hurt yourself in the future. To re-create the pear shaped hole drill a larger and a smaller hole next to each other along the center of the spring, the smaller hole closer to the end of the spring and about ¾" from the end. With a file connect the two holes and voila, you have a pear shaped hole. If you bend the end a bit towards the inside it will be easier to install.

BTW: This and other more frequent repairs are described in the book "The Compleat Talking Machine" by Eric Reiss. It is the first book I would recommend to anyone working on talking machines.

Good luck!
Andreas

[memde]

any idea what size hole to drill?

[kirtley2012]

just big enough to fit over the lip/rivit inside the spring barrel, you need one big hole to fit over the rivit then a smaller hole to slide onto the rivit and not fall off, if you have the snapped piece you can try to replicate that or just copy it from the other spring