The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Here is a few more pictures of my Columbia! And What I've done so far.

On photo(2) Can anyone tell me why there what appears to be a wooden vernier underneath the turntable? baffles me.

Do you have a decal on any of the sides? Your tone arm has a volume control. There should be a felt pad on the volume control unit inside the reproducer diaphragm. Could we see a photo of the top without the turntable? Jerry

Welcome to the Forum! You have a real potential treasure in the Columbia.

You will also find threads here about cleaning up the cabinet. From your pictures it looks to me to be in quite good condition. Preserve the original finish if at all possible.

A good cleaning with Kotton Klenser (http://kottonklenser.com/)followed by some of their bees wax lemon oil polish can work wonders in my experience.

You will find a running debate about whether Kotton Klenser or a product called "GoJo" hand cleaner, available from auto supply stores, is best for cleaning. Either is good IMHO. If you use GoJo though, make sure to get the varity without pumice.

Clay

ColumbiaBY wrote:Can anyone tell me why there what appears to be a wooden vernier underneath the turntable? baffles me.

Finding the entire top veneered is the norm. Probably much easier to manufacturer that way.

Clay

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/downlo ... &mode=view


As for the "second layer of vernier under the turntable", do you mean that really dark circle on the wooden top, right underneath the turntable, and slightly larger ?


If so, I can't say from the photos exactly what this is, but most external-horn Columbias have a nickel-plated dust-ring that surrounds the turn-table, concealing the raw edge of the TT.

Perhaps the dark ring is the remnants of some sort of shim or gasket bewteen the dust-ring and top deck of cabinet ?

As for how to clean rusted metal, instead of sand blasting, consider soda-blasting: this is supposed to be very effective, yet gentle on the metal.


Good luck with this machine - please keep us posted and share photos !

Regards,

De Soto Frank

I'm so glad to see there are still younger people getting interested in this hobby. I was 13 when I first started collecting and I got my VV-VI when I was your age. Now I'm 25 and adrift in a sea of records. There are some great folks here and I'm glad you found us.

Best,
Tim

Update on the Restoration process. Spent some 5 hours on Cleaning some gears, speed control, camshaft spindle thing, and most importantly the Motor base.
I feel I did a good job?

It looks good to me!

Here is a picture of the top of the turntable yall have been asking for!

I see what you mean. There does look to be a circle of veneer of a different type of wood under the turntable and that is indeed a bit odd. Looks like you also have some oil tube openings under there.

Clay