So, by way of update, I'm going to try to post some photos here from the eBay listing. This is what I started with. Not a bad base at all.
And, of course, I can't figure out how to do that, so here is the listing in case someone else can.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/gramophone-HMV- ... true&rt=nc
I figured not bad at $100 plus shipping, which actually wound up being an additional $40 on top of the quoted amount (which I knew going in it could not possibly have been right), but they did a great job.
It actually looked worse than this somewhat- and I don't know where the rule is written that all gramo lids MUST be used as plant stands, but it sure was.
Barry (Phono48) did indeed very kindly send me a good spring barrel with a good spring in it. Took it all apart, soaked it in carby cleaner for a few days, and repacked it with synthetic automotive red grease with a little penetrant mixed in as a thinner. Made a good, sticky, flowable grease.
Rather than a strip/ refinish/ restore, I decided to go minimalist on this one, re- gluing, spot staining and blending where necessary, and using a black Sharpie marker to hide some really egregious faults. This is a great trick... put the ink on and wipe it immediately, and it will fill stubborn light cracks and splits in veneer and look like grain.
A clean up with GoJo and then Howard's feed and wax on the cabinet worked wonders. I actually had a piece of grille cloth left over from a VV 1-70 project several years ago that was JUST big enough. I pulled everything apart to detail it. While I had the metal horn out, I did make one modification... I covered the outside of it with automotive stereo sound deadener, "Fat Mat".It sure took the metallic resonance and sympathetic vibrations out. High notes with a full tone needle were painful before.
All of the metal bits got polished, and the black bits got repainted. I made some soft foam gaskets to seal the tone arm base to the horn. I also rebuilt the governor while the motor was apart, and did a quick replate of the crank and escutcheon... not TOO good, but it looks like it belongs.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post pics of the finished machine and post a video.
This was purchased as a "rescue" so it will be going up for "adoption" soon.
Oh, you'll notice that the original 5A box has some hairlines on the back, but they are pretty microscopic- almost invisible in person. However, I picked up a really nice 5B brass unit that I'm waiting on gaskets for that will go with it.
Stay tuned! Thanks for all the help and guidance from across the pond on this!
