The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I actually restored an almost identical machine a few years ago. I paid $100 for the machine. It was my first complete restoration and it came out looking nice. I used Flitz on the metal and almost all of it polished up nicely. I used Goop (no pumice!) on the wood to remove the gunk and then polished with Parker & Bailey furniture polish. I've used Howard Feed n' Wax on other machines with good success also. It also had a few incorrect or missing screws and bolts, which I was able to replace for about $40.

I actually completely disassembled and cleaned the motor and other mechanical parts by following a great Youtube demo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R9i7zp-v9s is the link to part 1 of 4) that was very easy to follow. I did not need to rebuild the soundbox on this one, but did on another machine. There were easy to follow instructions online. I didn't replace the turntable felt on this one either, but did on another machine. It was easy and I was able to find a perfect color replacement rather easily.

In short, this would be a fun project that will probably get you hooked. I spent all day yesterday restoring an Edison Triumph D2 and will be back with more questions of my own in just a bit.

Many thanks to all for very informative and encouraging posts!
I have decided against buying this machine. In fact, I went to see another VV-IX that looked really good in pictures, but close inspection killed the deal - it had paint spills (small, but visible) as if it was repainted and it had gatored finish - the condition that I've never heard of until I started researching mahogany restoration in this forum few days ago. I've never seen gatored mahogany before, but I have recognized it as soon as I saw it because I just read about gatored mahogany in this forum.
I'll keep looking for the machine with a good finish.