The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Nice result. You should be pleased. You had to do something, and what you did appears to have worked successfully. I've seen way too many gramophones that have been stripped and refinished with dubious quality.

Yes, more photos would be nice. I have a machine that could benefit from this sort of treatment.

The overall result is quite good as you can see from the first picture - differences between the original finish of the motor board and the new one become more evident when looking up close (as reference take the reflection of my mobile phone - profile of the reflected image is much more defined in the original one).

Moreover I recently finished to completely repaint the pommel of the charging handle.

Now the only thing I have to address (any suggestion about how to do it properly will be appreciated) is the clip that keeps the short portion of the tonearm from falling backwards which unfortunately broke in its weakest point.

Recently I recall having heard about a record cabinet specifically designed for the HMV Mod. 460 and Mod. 461.

Unfortunately I have not been able to find any reference about such a pedestal on the net nor in some HMV catalogues.

Does anyone ever saw one of these or even owns one?

P.S. Attached a picture of the HMV Mod.461 leaflet in an HMV catalogue.

HMV130 wrote:Now the only thing I have to address (any suggestion about how to do it properly will be appreciated) is the clip that keeps the short portion of the tonearm from falling backwards which unfortunately broke in its weakest point.

If it's copper or brass, it could be soldered, I would think.

Henry wrote:If it's copper or brass, it could be soldered, I would think.

Thank you very much for the reply. I am afraid it is some sort of alloy.

HMV130 wrote:

Henry wrote:If it's copper or brass, it could be soldered, I would think.

Thank you very much for the reply. I am afraid it is some sort of alloy.

Certainly looks like brass to me. Not just saying that due to its overall color, but because brass seems apparent in the area that's been ground on a bit. (BTW, brass is an alloy of copper & zinc.)

Definitely not brass, as it has to "give" when the pin on the curve of the arm passes it. More likely to be spring steel I would think. A good candidate for replacement would be the same part from an HMV 101 portable, which will be nickel or chrome, but can easily be sprayed with gold paint, and would look passable until an original turned up, which is unlikely! Not true restoration, I know, but the part should be easily available from one of the British dealers.

Still, looks like something that could be neatly silver soldered. Given to someone with goods skills in that, there would be little to lose in trying.

Phono48 wrote:Definitely not brass, as it has to "give" when the pin on the curve of the arm passes it. More likely to be spring steel I would think. A good candidate for replacement would be the same part from an HMV 101 portable, which will be nickel or chrome, but can easily be sprayed with gold paint, and would look passable until an original turned up, which is unlikely! Not true restoration, I know, but the part should be easily available from one of the British dealers.

Ive seen plenty of springy parts made of brass over the years. Cold worked brass makes very nice flat springs. Test with a magnet, though. There are some dark spots in the picture that make me think it is spring steel. Either way, solder is not going to hold that back together. If you can find a steel piece from another machine, you could have it plated, or try to paint it.

JerryVan wrote:Still, looks like something that could be neatly silver soldered. Given to someone with goods skills in that, there would be little to lose in trying.

If it’s meant to be springy, it will lose that from being silver soldered. You’d ruin the heat treat it had if it were steel, and it it is brass, you’d have to find a way to cold work it to the point where it was springy again, which would distort it to the point where it wouldn’t fit anymore.