The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I didn't intend to become a collector. I purchased my first phonograph because I had to have it. You can see it here. http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=21672 One was enough, or so I thought. When I purchased the Sonora, I also considered buying an Edison A250 with an oak cabinet. Now I have both. The cabinet was very dirty. It looked like it was covered in coal dust. I used 0000 steal wool with Scotts liquid gold and then moved up to Gojo hand cleaner. I noticed that there was a noticeable color variation all around. It is smoked quarter sawn oak and it appeared to have a reddish stain especially on the top of the lid. The door was very hard to clean and the bottom quarter had a darker appearance like a water stain. The door had no red tint. The serial number on the lid is 7645 and on the bed plate 4719-A1. The metal horn was painted, but it doesn't look like oak. I suspect that several parts were taken from other machines. I imagine that it effects the value, but I didn't buy it as an investment and I don't intend to sell it. I wish it had a golden oak appearance, but I hate the idea of refinishing the entire machine. I suspect that the Edison factory gave it the red tint and while the door fits perfectly, it might have been swapped. The door is quarter sawn oak, but no hint of red. The grill is clearly wrong and I am going to replace it with a copy which I will try and make myself. I would like some advise on how you would restore this machine. Some information about how it came from the factory would also be welcome. The photo shows the A250 on a picture I found on the internet.

I like what you've done already, and I'd advise against doing any stripping of the wood or other finish.
More pictures would help to get specific further cleaning/polishing advice. I know there are a couple good woodworkers out there replicating the old Edison grills. I can't think of their names right now. Perhaps someone else can help. It wouldn't be impossible to find an original grill either through dealers or on Ebay if you're willing to go that route.
I really like the color photo on the old black and white! Wish it were my living room! Thanks for posting!
Bob

I agree with Bob. If you were to refinish it the value would go down, not up. Replacing the grill is another matter. It appears to be homemade. You can get an excellent repro grill here.

http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=phonog ... _form.html

It appears someone has dropped a works from a mahogany machine into an oak cabinet based on the color of the horn. Also normally the cabinet numbers and numbers on the bedplates match.

Best to post a few more good pics and several here would be able to offer opinions on best course or restoration.

"I didn't intend to become a collector."

Addictive... Is'nt it?

)

I go to the meetings every week at the Mission.

billybob62 wrote:I go to the meetings every week at the Mission.

This is beginning to sound like an AA meeting.

[hesitantly stands up]
Hello, I'm Keith and I'm a recovering Josh-a-holic. It all started with a record, just a single little cylinder. It seemed innocent enough. Some days I would sneak off and have a listen, just once. Then one day I bought another record, and later another. One thing led to another until I had a full-blown raging addiction. Aunt Nancy said it was just shameful what I done.....ha, ha, ha, haaaaaaa.....

Personally, I like the grill... original or not. It appears someone wanted a mission style look, rather than an ornate grill. I also like the look of the red horn contrasting with the oak...

Well I have had a few days to work on the A250 and while I was able to remove a huge amount of dirt and paint drops, my efforts also exposed weakness in the finish. The top is by far the best part of the machine. The sides are pretty nice as well. The door was bad. The bottom half looked like it was under water for a time. The back of the door looks great. It was a difficult step to take, but I ended up stripping and re-staining the door front and only that. No matter how hard I cleaned, it just looked bad. I covered it in shellac after staining and if you look closely at the picture, you may still see the dark stain on the bottom quarter of the door I was afraid to get too aggressive in order to remove it and possibly damage the veneer. I really hated to do it, but it really let the rest of the machine down. I used Photoshop to group the pictures together and missed a few of the edges, but I assure you the A250 is not damaged. I wanted to show more of the details I described above so you can see the over all condition. Click on the pictures for a closer look. Oh, and it plays just fine!

Well, this is the most interesting machine I've seen in awhile.

It looks like a 2-mainspring motor. Is that indeed the case?

Is there a date on the paper label attached to the inside rear door?

Are the record dividers in the lower drawer cut in a gentle arc, or is that an optical illusion?

Finally, on what oak surface is the rococo grille design traced?

Thanks for posting these pictures! A fascinating machine!

George P.

Wow, very interesting! Thanks for posting pictures. The "Official Laboratory Model" medallion is a very interesting feature, as well as the drawers!

Best,
Fran