The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Risbone, PM sent. Thanks!!

WOW! It is just incredible to see this wonderful old machine start to come back to life. I am so glad you did not part it out! Wish you were a bit closer and I could put you in touch with a real genius in finish restoration who does amazing work at a reasonable price.

For what, if any, use it might be, here is a picture of the arm on my VV-XVI.

Clay

I got a little more done today. WoodEpox came today and I tried my hand at replacing some missing wood. Tomorrow I will work on staining the area, and replacing wood in a couple more smaller spots. I also worked on the finish with some alcohol to start re-amalgamating it where I can. I will add some shellac and sand it later. But, that is why a few of the areas are so shiny. The tone arm and a few other parts come tomorrow, thanks to rizbone. More pics to come.

You're to be commended for saving this XVIII. Keep up the good work!

George P.

Today I stained the repair beside the left horn door and the crank hole (thanks to Martinola for the stain). And I started re-amalgamating the finish on the record doors. Lastly, started the repair around the legs.

Wow! You have done a wonderful job with this Victrola! Yes, it can be saved!

Considering what you started with, absolutely amazing!

As for the side that was stripped, I'm thinking start from scratch with filling the grain, staining to match, then shellac to achieve a matching finish, but suspect you are way ahead of me on that.

I think this model likely had a mirror smooth "piano finish" when new.

Clay

Thanks Don and Clay. Also today, the motor board, motor, tone arm, bracket, and lid support (and screws) came and were installed. A big thank you to Rizbone and Fmblizz.

Clay, can you suggest a good product to remove the small amount of remaining finish on the stripped side? I tried denatured alcohol, and that had little effect. I appears as though it was chemically stripped before with some scraping. some of the original stain and finish remains but not much. What is there is in lines as though it had been scraped, just not completely. Will mineral spirits do it?

If you ended up stripping the entire cabinet after it is repaired, would the stripper affect the wood filler used? I have had difficulty blending refinished areas with areas of original finish and I end up refinishing the entire cabinet. I would like to hear from collectors who have had success with refinishing one door or side including some photos. Thanks, Jerry