The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have an RCA portable, the covering is coming off and in some places missing pieces, any tips to recovering something like this, my biggest concern is the hardware, apparently put on overtop the covering and riveted, how do i duplicate this or make it look good?

I've had the same problem with a Decca portable.If you try to refix the components with rivets, you'll never get them to hold tightly. Far better, in my opinion, to fill the existing rivet holes with slivers of wood, and replace the rivets with small screws. Make a very careful note of exactly where the holes were, though, before re-covering the case.

Re-covering a portable should only be considered as a last resort, like re-finishing a cabinet gramophone.

If the missing pieces of case covering are very small, remove the motor board and you may find enough overlapping material to use as patches. Any colour variation should disappear with a good polish.

I found another solution with an HMV102, the sought after red leather version with gilt fittings, which had lost areas of the exterior leather. I bought a set of replica stick-on luggage labels of the correct period, filled the affected areas level with a leather restoring paste and applied the labels. The machine now looks as though it crossed the Atlantic aboard the Queen Mary!

In the antique car hobby, "threaded rivets," basically screws without slots, are often used to replace rivets. I find these extremely useful in some phono applications as well. Google them.
John

thanks all!