The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

novkev24 wrote:Hi jboger,

Thanks for the thorough reply. As for restoration, I would like to have the machine look good in my home. I have no intention of selling the machine, so I'm not that concerned about the deprecation in value. As for the oil-based stain you mentioned. Do you have the exact product name and possibly a link to the companies web site? I came across this company. Is this the Constantine's you mentioned?

http://www.constantines.com/bartleysgelstains.aspx

-Kevin

Kevin.
There are other things to be concerned about. Does it have a wooden horn, is the back bracket paint in good shape, all nickel plating good, If so, you want them to match. I would suggest sending it to Rod at http://www.victrolarepairservice.com/nickelplating.html and let them do it. They are good guys and can do a good job. If it was the only machine you plan on having and keeping, that's what I would do.

Kevin's machine is a Victor VI, so the plating is gold, not nickel in this case!
A previous suggestion suggested wax, I don't think that's a bad idea to start with. A couple of compainies make tined wax, I've tried and used Howard's on one machine many years back and honestly, I'd forgotten about it until now. It worked great evening out some spots on a cabinet model I had. I'd try that first since it's completely reversible if you aren't pleased with the results.

Sean

Hello,

So far the best advice you have gotten is go slow. Vic VIs are beautiful machines and restoration as already mentioned is a very personal thing and has a significant affect upon the value.

If you want a good rang of free advice I would post some photos - but remember it is your machine so good luck with your final choice.

I would start with the least invasive method and advance until you are satisfied with the result.

I use gojo hand cleaner on metal parts such as those on Edisons. Even without pumice it will take a layer of finish off especially with steel wool. For finer cleaning I would use a cotton cloth to wipe off the gojo. If more cleaning is needed then rub with the cloth and only then use at the aggressive stage an abrasive like steel wool.

Recently I was introduced to cleaning with windex and it worked very well on a surface with a decent finish still in place. Spray windex on a cloth and gently rub until no more dirt comes off.

I have also had great success with mahogany tinted paste wax. It is not perfect but it does add a little colour and as earlier mentioned if not satisfied you have done no harm and it can be removed very easily.

Good luck and share photos of your progress.

Bruce

Yes, that's Constantine's. The Zinzer's shellac is a good product. If your interested, you may want to poke around on the web just to learn about shellac in general. Here's a site: http://www.shellac.net/. I bought from them. You may want to use one of the waxes that you can buy from Constantine's whatever you do with your player. I'd use one of the darker, English waxes. Can do wonders.

Curt A wrote:Kevin,
The Zinsser shellac page you show is the correct product. I have used it on many projects and it works well right out of the can and I found it at Lowes. Orange shellac gives a rich tone to your project and is very close to the original. You can, however, mix your own color using flakes as suggested. If I were to use any stain on your machine, I would use a red mahogany and maybe mix in some brown mahogany to tone it... If you can find an old piece of scrap mahogany, that would be a good test surface...

Thanks for your advice! I appreciate the feedback.