The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Before I even get started with the tutorial, I really need to try and convince everyone that needs a grill to just spend the money and buy one here.
http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=phonog ... _form.html
You will find as I did that once you get deeper into the project, it becomes impossible to dismiss all your time and effort an just spend the money.

Step 1: Find a very good friend who will allow you to take their very valuable authentic Edison grill to Kinkos so you can scan a template on a large page of paper. The scanner was set to 100%, but it did reduce the size a bit. I had to use my scanner to enlarge half of the Kinkos scan and Photoshop to enlarge it.Trace the template on to the board covered with tape. I used a silver oil based sharpie I found at a crafts store. Step 2: Find a thin board to use as your grill. I found a perfect board from a destroyed Columbia. Not so easy to find. My Edison came with a (wrong) grill and a frame which I was able to use. The frame is not authentic, but I didn't want to alter what I had. Step 3: Cover your plywood board with painters tape on both sides to prevent cracking and breaking of the lamination. Initially I only covered one side and that was a mistake. Step 4: Obtain Forstner drill bits. You will need them to prevent cracks and splits and they work really well. Step 5: Spend a great deal of money on a scroll saw or buy new coping saw blades like I did. Try and cut as close to the lines as you dare in order to save more work later. Step 6: Once you get it all cut out, you must file and sand the wood back to the lines. I had to buy a set of small files at Home Depot and they worked great. Step 7: If you think it looks pretty good, remove the painters tape off the back only so you can spray paint the back and inside cuts with flat black paint.

Step 8: Remove the painters tape after the back is dry and you will find the finish is in pretty bad shape from the tape. Be careful removing it just in case you will need to re-glue any of the laminate that may have come loose. I was very lucky because the laminate held.

Step 9: Try and match the finish to your machine. Good luck with that one. I used minwax and Shellac. Shellac is very hard to work with. Well, thats all you need to do and so again I hope you don't make my mistake and simply spend the money for a perfect grill. If you liked this post please leave a comment See more photos of the entire phonograph here.
http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=22625

YOU HAND CUT THAT WHOLE THING???!!!! My hat's off to you! I would rather build a jig saw from scratch then hand cut that grill. Great work, greater dedication!

JerryVan wrote:YOU HAND CUT THAT WHOLE THING???!!!! My hat's off to you! I would rather build a jig saw from scratch then hand cut that grill. Great work, greater dedication!

I second that ! I think you did a fine job of it.

I third it. You've done a great job and should be proud of it!

Andreas

audiophile102:

Shocked, amazed, delighted. I must say your determination and obvious skill paid off here. I attempted to do what you did with a C-19 grill, realized I was in over my head and ended up finding an original. It is super hard to make an authentic-looking grill and yet you managed to do it. Congratulations to you for both the grill and the machine it goes to.

Regards,
Martin

"Shellac is very hard to work with."

First, congrats on an excellent job.

My only other comment is regarding shellac. It is actually very easy to use. I use orange/amber shellac in a can and apply it with a clean cloth. Wipe it on, let it set and wipe off the excess... do this for several coats and lightly go over it with 0000 steel wool to get an incredibly smooth satin finish that looks like the original. If using it on oak that has been stripped, you really don't need stain as it has a golden color... it also works good to touch up worn spots on original finishes.

Very, very, very impressive! While the project seems to have outlasted your enthusiasm for it (judging from the tone of the tutorial), it certainly turned out beautifully. A lot of time and effort to be sure, and a steep learning curve along the way, but wow, you figured it all out and the results are first-class. If it were my work, I'd tuck a print-out of the tutorial somewhere inside the machine -- behind the works or in the record storage area -- so that some owner in a future generation will know just how much ingenuity went into getting that grill right, and be suitably impressed. Terrific work!

Curt A wrote:"Shellac is very hard to work with."

First, congrats on an excellent job.

My only other comment is regarding shellac. It is actually very easy to use. I use orange/amber shellac in a can and apply it with a clean cloth. Wipe it on, let it set and wipe off the excess... do this for several coats and lightly go over it with 0000 steel wool to get an incredibly smooth satin finish that looks like the original. If using it on oak that has been stripped, you really don't need stain as it has a golden color... it also works good to touch up worn spots on original finishes.

My personal method for shellacking is a modified French polish: thin the shellac with alcohol first, make a pad of smooth, clean cloth, dampen it with shellac, put a couple drops of oil on it, and gently start rubbing the shellac on. Use a smooth, circular or oval motion, never letting the pad stop while on the surface. You can switch to straight passes from time to time.

Repeat as before, after the previous coat has dried. It's a bit tedious, and takes some elbow grease, but produces a beautiful finish.

Bill

Lucius1958 wrote:

Curt A wrote:"Shellac is very hard to work with."

First, congrats on an excellent job.

My only other comment is regarding shellac. It is actually very easy to use. I use orange/amber shellac in a can and apply it with a clean cloth. Wipe it on, let it set and wipe off the excess... do this for several coats and lightly go over it with 0000 steel wool to get an incredibly smooth satin finish that looks like the original. If using it on oak that has been stripped, you really don't need stain as it has a golden color... it also works good to touch up worn spots on original finishes.

My personal method for shellacking is a modified French polish: thin the shellac with alcohol first, make a pad of smooth, clean cloth, dampen it with shellac, put a couple drops of oil on it, and gently start rubbing the shellac on. Use a smooth, circular or oval motion, never letting the pad stop while on the surface. You can switch to straight passes from time to time.

Repeat as before, after the previous coat has dried. It's a bit tedious, and takes some elbow grease, but produces a beautiful finish.

Bill

I used shellac with a paint brush. I dipped the brush in and tried to put on a thin coat as fast as I could. I didn't use alcohol to thin it and that what was so bad. The drying time was the main problem for me. I really should have done some research first. Next time I'm going to try bill's pad.