The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello Everyone,
I hope this is the right place for my restoration topic.

As many of you know I found an A-300 recently and it needs a lot of help.
Here is the list of issues as far as I have seen.

1. The left foot is missing a chunk from the decorative part of the foot.
2. The right foot is missing most of the decorative part of the foot.
3. The woodgrain is flaking fairly badly off the outside of the horn.
4. The frame around the inside of the player is flaking and the bare wood is showing.
5. The grill is a mess with multiple layers lifted, missing, the finish is peeling and the outer frame is busted in the corner.
6. The main spring snapped yesterday
7. It is missing the reproducer
8 The bottom drawer has collapsed in the bottom so the records fall to far into the spaces and you cant open the drawer. You cannot remove the drawer either!

For the feet I will use the left one as a guide. I will use modelers clay to rebuild the foot and then make a mold of it. Then I will take that mold and hard press a sawdust and glue mix to recreate the designs. I am not 100% sure how I will handle the horn. I am thinking of hand painting the grains back on and coating the horn area with a lacquer mix.
The frame will be removed and stripped. Then it will be lacquered and toned to the proper shade.
The grill will be the challenge. I have some pieces but not even 50% of them. I have started the reconstruction of the grill and have attached about half the pieces. I found a rebuilt reproducer from a member here and I have a local guy who is going to replace the main spring. The drawer is something I hav not found a way to do yet...

I would love feedback on my decisions about restoring the phonograph.
Some of you may have tried different things so let me know what you did.

As you can see in the first pic, I have degrossed the top of the player to reveal the original finish....

HEre are some pics.

Kirk

8 The bottom drawer has collapsed in the bottom so the records fall to far into the spaces and you cant open the drawer. You cannot remove the drawer either!

The bottom drawer on your machine was meant for 12 inch discs, not 10 inch discs. There isn't anything wrong with your drawer based on other machines I have seen from this period that had individual "slats" in the bottom.

Sean

Really....
That is interesting... There was a few pieces of wood that were under the drawer. That is why I could not open it.
I had to put the phono upside down to get the drawer to slowly come out...
I do see what you mean.. It is a deeper drawer..
I thought the extra wood was part of the bottom...
The extra pieces are in the picture below...
I don't think they even go to the phono then....

Thanks for the info...

Kirk

Kirk,

I believe those pieces were added to the drawer by some previous owner to avoid just the situation you encountered. It would allow them to put 10" discs in the 12" drawer without jamming it up.

JerryVan wrote:Kirk,

I believe those pieces were added to the drawer by some previous owner to avoid just the situation you encountered. It would allow them to put 10" discs in the 12" drawer without jamming it up.

Well, They sure jammed the crap out of it for me, lol

Kirk

I am SUPER excited....
I was going to search for a key to my Edison door and lid. I decided to go through my keys and nothing fit... I went out to the workshop to do some work and remembered I had some keys there on display. I took them in and I found the PERFECT key! It fits right into the hole and locks/unlocks the door and lid....

YAy!

I am sure that this thread will get a lot of views. Congrats on a great phonograph.
Ken

OldRestorer wrote:

JerryVan wrote:Kirk,

I believe those pieces were added to the drawer by some previous owner to avoid just the situation you encountered. It would allow them to put 10" discs in the 12" drawer without jamming it up.

Well, They sure jammed the crap out of it for me, lol

Kirk

Well yes, because they apparently became detached and got jammed up in the slides. I'm not saying I'm 100% correct. Just a theory.

By the way, you seem to be doing a great job! Keep it up.

Update:
I could not handle the door looking so bad compared to the rest of the cabinet so I decided to give it a full treatment. I did NOT strip it so no worries.. I gave it a firm cleaning, a deep rub with pumice 2 to level the minor imperfections in the surface. Then I soaked it with wood moisturizer for about 10 minutes until it was mostly absorbed, recoated, and so on until it did not suck up any more. I left it with a thin film overnight. It was wiped clean and then washed with a mix of stain and spirits. I let that dry and spread natural beeswax in a good thick coat on the door. Then again spread the remaining around whenever an area started to dry up. It is important to have it all absorb evenly so if an area sucks up more than another area then that area needs more. I usually repeat this until the piece dries mostly evenly.
I usually wait about an hour until there is a nice haze... Then I buff the heck out of it.. This seals the newly moisturized wood.

Day 2 of grill repairs. I took some spare base wood from a parts radio and used it to build up the final layer of the grill. Once this dries I will cut out the excess and I can start veneering...

Do you guys think this grill is also Circassian walnut?