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Mineral spirits is completely different to metho. Mineral spirits is an odourless substitute for turpentine.
Methylated spirits is Ethyl alcohol, (or ethanol), and rubbing alcohol is Isopropyl alcohol, as found in skin swabs etc, and contains higher levels of water than ethanol.
Still, I would also try mineral spirits/turpentine as well as both alcohols.
There are also paints that only dissolve with ammonia, but I believe it was only around for a short time in the 40s or 50s.

I'm wondering if it should look something like this, once it's cleaned up and restored:



It's identified as a model 8c, from the page of a Japanese collector -- http://umeya.bz/ (Click on the picture of the #5a sound box to access the page.)

The photo's kind of dark, but if you have a photo editor you can probably lighten it to see more detail.

HTH,
OF

Yes it should look exactly like that one pictured above. I seem to recall it IS identified as an HMV 118 in that book produced by / for Umeya but there is a question mark after the '118'. There should't be as it most definitely is a 118.

BTW, thanks Shane for correcting me on the meths thing. I had never come across the 'mineral spirits' term until I viewed the US forum so I incorrectly assumed that the regular reference to it might assume it was the same thing we call methylated spirit over here. Thanks for the clarification.

Thanks, guys. The picture of the Umeya HMV 118 is a good reference. I knew about the Umeya site and the fact that he had many HMVs pictured there, but I could not locate the website. When I replaced my PC a few months ago, I lost my bookmarks, and I forgot the name. As for the various solvents mentioned, here are the ones I use most frequently, available in good old US (non-metric, non-Imperial) gallons. The denatured alcohol (shellac thinner) is the same as methylated spirit, and the paint thinner is often called mineral spirits here is the US.

As for the ammonia suggestion, I know that it can be used to darken oak. I'm not sure how it would affect teak.

AZ, the website address is:

www.umeya.bz

I've met Hideki Umeya many times. He's a nice guy and very knowledgable. He does seem to be able to buy some of the nicest original condition machines available anywhere; that's Victor's as well as HMV's. I would recommend the site to anyone - it's a good reference although the language barrier does make interpretation of some of the information slightly difficult!

BTW, it looks as though you must do some serious restoration work. You don't buy anything in small measures there, do you?

is there any way you might be able to post a few photos of the hmv before you do anything to it, and then after as well?

brianu wrote:is there any way you might be able to post a few photos of the hmv before you do anything to it, and then after as well?

I'll take some "before" pictures and post them sometime this weekend. It will be quite a while for the "after" pictures, however. With high temperatures above 100 degrees F for most of the next 3 months, I doubt that I'll even start working on it until November or December.

Here are some "before" pictures.







The bottom needs new corners made to replace the previous "repair."






Yes, it's paint.


It is definitely a Model 118 (but we already knew that).


More paint.

Hi AZ:

That certainly looks restorable.

About the only missing parts I see are the tungsten needle holder, which should be on the right side at the base of the lid, the original top portion of the lid-lock (yours looks to be a replacement) and the (flat) leather handle.

I've spotted the reproduction leather handles on ebay -- http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/HMV-101-102-PORT ... 0222123981 Don't know about the other parts.

I can't quite tell from the photo, but is the horn wood, or metal, like the HMV 102?

Ortho_Fan,

The horn is metal and appears to be the same shape as on the 102, extended at both ends due to the deeper case. I noticed the damaged/missing parts you mentioned when I examined the machine before buying it. I agree that it is definitely restorable. I was pleased to see that the handle is the same as on the 101/102. I have a spare needle tin clip and a case latch from a junk 102. I thought I had a spare handle, but discovered I had already used it on a 101 I restored a while back. So I'll definitely contact the Dutch Black Ship ebay seller.

The motor is the usual 2 spring model 32. The governor springs all need replacing. No two are the same, and one appears to be homemade. I have spares on hand.

Horn pictures: