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I got this VV-XI. The guy was asking $35 for it but when I hot there decided he would rather just give it to me. The case is in rough shape and I'm thinking I may need to just re veneer the whole thing but I figured I'd get some expert opinions. The inside cleaned up great and it plays nicely so I want to do it justice.

If you've got some artistic talent this would be a good candidate for Chinese painting.

Hmmmm never occured to me. I will look in the Look for the Dog book to see if I could manage that.

Your Victrola is a IX. You certainly can't beat the price!

If you've never done veneer work, this would be a perfect opportunity for you. Nice small, rectangular pieces. Nothing hard about that. Start with the back side to gain confidence. The side opposite the crank side could be repaired with new veneer pieced in. It's at the back edge, so even if it isn't perfect (piecing in veneer seldom is!), it won't really show. Rather than try to remove the lid veneer, I'd lay a whole new piece on the top. New veneer is quite thin - you'll never know. You don't show the crank side...

Once you've done some veneering, you won't be scared off by veneer problems on a rare item.

George P.

Hi moxiemama!
It's good to have you back. George beat me to the punch about patching-in veneer. I do have a further suggestion or two. Firstly, for all of the veneer patches on the side and front door you have no better resource than the remaining veneer on the back. It's the same stain, same wood and most importantly the same thickness. The back can be a single new piece. The top looks to be mostly finish damage. I'll bet when you strip, sand and re-stain, it will look pretty good. As always; keep us posted.
Martin

Yes IX is what I meant. Thank you.

I was hoping that the veneer wouldn't be too complicated. It did seem as though the size and price of the machine were in my favor. Would it be hard to get good color match?

martinola wrote:Hi moxiemama!
It's good to have you back.

Thanks Martin! It is great to be back.

That is great advice about the back veneer. And I will try stripping the top first.

As always I can count on this forum for very helpful advice.

I wouldn't re-veneer the whole thing, just the back side that is mostly missing already, and use that veneer for patches on the rest. It's a whole lot easier trying to match veneer of the same vintage than trying to match new, and you won't have to worry about trying to match stains on the back piece. Little note, when cutting the patches, don't try to match the missing piece. Cut the chipped area out to a more regular pattern. Cut straight lines with the grain, and angles against the grain. It will make the patches slightly less obvious.

As for the lid...trying refinishing it, if it isn't badly damaged. I mean you're going to have finish new veneer anyway, so why not?


This is actually a great machine to muck around with, and develope your skills without worrying about destorying a rare machine.

I'd be tempted to just sand the lid lightly and try Howard's restore-a-finish. I've had decent luck with that on several machines, though this one may be a bit too far gone.

52089 wrote:I'd be tempted to just sand the lid lightly and try Howard's restore-a-finish. I've had decent luck with that on several machines, though this one may be a bit too far gone.

Might as well....never a bad idea to start with the least invasive approach and work your way up.