The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

WOW, what a great result. And thank you for laying everything out clearly. I have no doubt that this is a thread Forum members will be referring back to again and again for pointers.

Clay

Martin, I'm impressed!
I have refinished a few, no other option, cases but never thought to photo every stage for reference. This series of shots will be of great help to wary restorers.
The lid latches you have cleaned up you state were "brush plated". I have a machine in almost perfect condition (the ICS one) which is only let down by the rust on the latches. Could you expand on the the process?.
Regards,
Alistair.

What a transformation! Thank you very much for sharing your techniques and the whole restoration process. A true labor of love, since nobody will ever pay the countless hours you spent on this. But the result is truly amazing. Congratulations!

Andreas

Martin

Fantastic result and great presentation.

One question now that you are finished would you follow the same steps? Specifically the green stain/shellac/grain filler which required more green being applied in a shellac layer. I have read somewhere that some grain fillers can be mixed with stain. Would you have tried this as the original green stained machines do look very washed out.

Bruce

This was an absolute pleasure to read due in part to your excellent narrative and in part due to your photos and workmanship. Well done!

I love these restoration chronicles.

JRT

Congratulations on bringing back what would ended up in a parts bin or worse. I think this posting belongs in the tips, tricks and tutorials section of this web site so that anyone searching for a restoration success story could easily find it. I had an opportunity to purchase three beat up Edison machines and now I really regret passing on them. Thank you for taking the time to present this to the antique phonograph community. You did a fantastic job.

Thanks for the great feedback, everybody. The power has been out all day, so instead of being online, I've been sitting in front of my Credenza.

One thing I can say about restoring stuff this way: it will never make you rich. On the other hand, I do stuff like this for a strange kind of relaxation and amusement.

Bruce, I think I would do things a bit different next time. I'm thinking fill with light brown filler first, then water stain, then shellac. I've still got two more banner decals so maybe I'll get a chance to try that out.

Martin

clevelander wrote:The lid latches you have cleaned up you state were "brush plated". I have a machine in almost perfect condition (the ICS one) which is only let down by the rust on the latches. Could you expand on the the process?

The lid latches always seem to have rust issues. I suspect it's due to being on the outside of the machine and perhaps because it is nickel plated right over steel with no copper layer between.

The brush plating kit I got some years ago from APSCO. I don't know if they still carry them. Caswell plating carries something called "Plug N Plate" which I suspect is much the same. Here's a link:

http://www.caswellplating.com/electropl ... -kits.html

To do the latches, I wire brushed them on a bench grinder to get off the rust. I then filed the pitted flat surfaces. I followed up with sanding them. Then I polished them somewhat with a polishing wheel with some tripoli followed by some rouge. I cleaned 'em real good with some grease cutting dish detergent and hot tap water. Then I plated the piece in Copper. Rinsed well. Lightly polished again. Washed again. Then I applied the Nickel and then followed with a very light polish. (I didn't want it to go too shiny.) It's pretty simple and the kits are great to have for plating screws and small things. I'm looking forward to see how it goes with you.

Martin

Martin,
Thanks for the info. I will keep you posted on how I get on.
Regards,
Alistair.