The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Matt, I'm amazed at how you saved this great Victrola instead of parting it out. I can't wait to see the finished product. You better start looking for the record binders. That will be the icing on this cake. . FYI, keep your eyes out for a 10" "P" binder. They were only used in the 17 & 18. I see one just sold with a few other on Ebay for around $150.

mattrx wrote: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?

I will need to rely on others to offer that advice, as I would not want to steer you wrong with an important machine. Living in a condo, what I have been able to do myself is pretty much limited to cleaning and fairly minor finish repairs. More involved cabinet restorations I have had to send out. (Luckily I have someone in my area who is extraordinarily good at it and with reasonable fees.)

Clay

Here are the latest pics from this evening. I installed the hardware that came over the weekend, and finished the repairs to the areas where larger pieces of wood were missing (lower left front by the leg, upper left by the horn door, and 2 spots near both left legs on the left side at the bottom). I need to replace some of the finer molding pieces that are broken off. And, I still need a little advice about removing what is left of the finish on the right side. This side can be seen in earlier photos in this thread. I tried alcohol, but that did not do much at all. I am uneasy about sanding. Has anyone used a chemical stripper that won't remove what stain is left in the veneer?

gramophone78,

I was watching that listing and almost bid. I am very early on in this project, and I still have not decided whether to keep this machine or not. So, I did not want to buy the whole set of binders. I probably should have, since I won't see them come up often!

Thanks,

Matt

mattrx wrote:gramophone78,

I was watching that listing and almost bid. I am very early on in this project, and I still have not decided whether to keep this machine or not. So, I did not want to buy the whole set of binders. I probably should have, since I won't see them come up often!

Thanks,

Matt

I understand Matt. That may be a tough call after you put all that "love" into the machine. Not to make you feel bad......that group with that "P" binder was the second one I have seen on Ebay in over 12 years,in any condition. However, I'm sure there will be another... . The latest pics of her look GREAT!!!!.

mattrx wrote:Here are the latest pics from this evening. .... And, I still need a little advice about removing what is left of the finish on the right side. This side can be seen in earlier photos in this thread. I tried alcohol, but that did not do much at all. I am uneasy about sanding. Has anyone used a chemical stripper that won't remove what stain is left in the veneer?

First off, WOW, looking good. I have never tried stripper on stain, I don't believe you will have great results there, I may be wrong on this one, I just don't know. Don't sand, at least not any more than to just knock down any surface roughness. You will have to sand too deep into the veneer to get past the stain.

I believe what is typically done to remove stain from the grain of wood is to bleach the wood. I personally would avoid this as well as it robs the wood of some of it's natural color as well. What you may need to do is to selectively stain the areas that are missing stain and to blend it in to the areas that are stained. You will likely see this in the final product.

What I am about to say will make some of the purists on this board cringe.

Cringe alert on: You may want to consider to selectively stain attempting to match as best as you can, then only display the machine such that right side is not readily visible and/or poorly lit. Most folks visiting will never see it, nor would they care. The beauty in the machine is in its design, it's history, and the care and time you spent reviving it, not in a pristine perfect side. Cringe alert off.

I haven't seen a post from Covah in a while (I haven't followed every post so he may be around). You may try and reach out to him as he has a history of turning basket case machines into stunning pieces of art. He may have some ideas or suggestions, and/or he is adept at not revealing the flaws so we only see the glitz.

I'll echo what others have said: it's looking good! Try lacquer thinner on that right side.

George P.

What George said. Lacquer thinner should take down any stubborn shellac. Try to let the solvent do the work rather than scrubbing
with abrasive pad or steel wool too much. I just swish it around with an old paint brush until the shellac gives up. Scrubbing will remove the stain too fast.

I agree, leave your sand paper in the drawer and use it only only wood filler. Jerry

The lacquer thinner removes the shellac rather well. That certainly worked. But, what I am left with are areas that used to have stain and shellac, and now just have stain. These areas are linear and across the grain, and I think they will show badly in the final product. On the third page in this thread is a picture that shows the pattern. I would like to remove most of this if I can, but none of the products used so far have gotten it off, or even faded it that much (den. alcohol, lacquer thinner, acetone). That side appears to have been stripped, but not completely and not well. Maybe a dark enough stain will blend these areas in to the whole. I have removed all the shellac at this point. I am ready to then stain and shellac this side, then start the finish sanding on all sides.

I did some more reading last night about a paste type stripper that should remove the stain. Maybe I'll give that a go before I give up on removing those lines and try to blend them in.