The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Oceangoer1 wrote:
I should've grabbed some pictures, my bad. Although now that you mention it, I do think it was a grayish colored "Sears Roebuck - Kansas City, MO" decal that someone fit in the lower right hand part of the decal. I looked on some past posts on the forum and saw similar B's with added Sears decals and different cities.

-Connor

I've never seen Sears markings on a machine with a city noted other than Chicago - but I'd love to!

These are the only Sears markings I've seen on cylinder Graphophones:

George P.

phonogfp wrote:Oops - sorry Connor! For some reason I thought that Joe Filer was the OP...!George P.

George, I know I have owned several B's but not this one (yet).
I am happy to say that I have provided Connor with some parts for this project to ease the restoration process along.
Doug, thanks for posting your highly polished machine. It could be the finest example known. I like mine so much I made it my avatar.
Joe Filer

Crank_it_up wrote:Doug, thanks for posting your highly polished machine. It could be the finest example known. I like mine so much I made it my avatar.Joe Filer

Thanks for your gracious comments, Joe. I was amazed at how well preserved my nickeled and polished Eagle was when I found it. All of the nickel plating on it is completely original. I just polished the nickel with a little Flitz (the best nickel polish there is IMHO). Yours looks really nice too!

Doug

If you dont mind me asking, How do you polish one? I have a BV that needs a little scrubbing.

Thank you!

ts_13 wrote:If you dont mind me asking, How do you polish one? I have a BV that needs a little scrubbing.

Hi, If you're referring to polishing the nickel plating on your Columbia BV, try using FLITZ on an old T-shirt. I have tried a lot of different metal polish products over the years including Nevr-Dull, Cape Cod polish cloths and lots more. Nothing worked better for me than FLITZ which can be found at your local Ace Hardware and probably other stores. It is most often sold in a tube (like toothpaste) and is not cheap (maybe $8 a tube) but it's worth every penny. I've transformed really dull Columbia cylinder Graphophone nickel bedplates to almost mirror quality with the stuff. It takes a little time and elbow/shoulder effort but before you know it you're smiling at your results. I even tackled VERY dull large Columbia screw-in nickel horns for my rear mount Columbia Graphophones and they came out nice and shiny. I've no affiliation with the company that makes the stuff but I'm happy to share my experience with it. Your results may vary.

Doug

Thats what I was looking for! Thank you very much!

T