Replacing leather in a bullet style brake.

[howardpgh]

How do you replace the leather piece in the bullet style brake used on the Victor IV?
Mine is worn to the point of metal to metal contact with the turntable rim.

[alang]

I just replaced the leather in my Vic II. I first tried to pull out the existing leather with a needle, but it pretty much disintegrated. So scraped the existing leather out with a small screwdriver. The new leather I had for the Victrola style brakes was too thick, so I carefully cut out a small wedge along the length of the leather and then pushed it into the hole in the bullet brake. I did not glue it in, since it fits in snug and is being pushed in by the brake action anyway.

I think the leather piece I have from Ron Sitko is just a piece of a treadle sewing machine belt. This one fits the usual Victrola brakes and governors, but bullet brakes need a smaller diameter and other machines like Zonophones need a larger diameter. There are different diameters of sewing machine belts are available, but these are several feet long and probably too much for the regular collector. Not sure if Ron Sitko or others offer the different sizes of leather?

Andreas

[Dave]

I've used this for replacement with good results..its almost the exact diameter to fit bullet brakes.
eBay Item #380703263716
Walt Sommers is a great guy too..very helpful.

[Dave D]

This is where a set of punches comes in real handy. You can get a cheap set from Harbor Freight. Also useful for pre-punching turntable felts before glueing them down.
I use scrap leather from a local shoe repair shop.
Dave D

[JerryVan]

Even the larger variety of sewing machine belting can work, within limits. You have to use two flat, hard surfaces and roll a bit of the belting between them while applying downward pressure. After a minute or so of rolling the belt diameter will be decreased enough to insert it. If it's a bit loose, just tap the end with a small hammer and the belting will re-expand a bit to fill the hole.

(To remove old leather, just drill it out.)