The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Inigo wrote:Wow, nice work! Go along and you'll have an incredibly good machine!

I think he had an incredibly good machine anyway

soundgen wrote:

Inigo wrote:Wow, nice work! Go along and you'll have an incredibly good machine!

I think he had an incredibly good machine anyway

Thanks! For what is worth I did not expect to obtain such result - the overall look was quite dull, plenty of paint stains and visible scratches all sides of the case.

In any case there is one thing that still needs to be addressed which is the soundbox. Unfortunately it is the dreadful late no.4 with the back made in pot metal (possibly the front plate too). From the exterior I cleaned it and polished both the body and the diaphragm however I was not able to open it.

All the backplate screws and also the two pivoting ones are literally blocked. I already tried wd40 obtaining no result at all.

Do anyone knows an alternative way to open it which does not involve its disintegration or should I leave it as it is?

HMV130 wrote:
All the backplate screws and also the two pivoting ones are literally blocked. I already tried wd40 obtaining no result at all.

Do anyone knows an alternative way to open it which does not involve its disintegration or should I leave it as it is?

WD-40 is not really recommended for freeing screws: it's more of a waterproofing agent (hence the "WD", for "water displacement"). A good penetrating oil, such as "Liquid Wrench", "Kroil", or "PB Blaster", would be more effective.

- Bill

I wonder if a good strong coffee like Lavazza Rossa would work to darken scratches?
It can be applied many times to build up depth of color.
I have not actually tried this.

Lucius1958 wrote:

HMV130 wrote:
All the backplate screws and also the two pivoting ones are literally blocked. I already tried wd40 obtaining no result at all.

Do anyone knows an alternative way to open it which does not involve its disintegration or should I leave it as it is?

WD-40 is not really recommended for freeing screws: it's more of a waterproofing agent (hence the "WD", for "water displacement"). A good penetrating oil, such as "Liquid Wrench", "Kroil", or "PB Blaster", would be more effective.

- Bill

Thank-you very much for the suggestion. I will try to obtain one of the penetrating oils you mentioned.

Daithi wrote:I wonder if a good strong coffee like Lavazza Rossa would work to darken scratches?
It can be applied many times to build up depth of color.
I have not actually tried this.

That is interesting! I recall watching a video of a wood carpenter explaining something about old and natural ways to stain wood and coffee was one of them. Unfortunately in my case I did not want to use stains nor water based ones would have had effects due to the original varnish finish being still intact.

For those who followed with interest this topic I would like to say that I just uploaded a video of the machine. Hope you will enjoy it!

So far the are no alteration to the finish nor old scratches appeared again.