The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I am happy that the mechanism is now complete but, as a preservationist, I am sad to see that the original interior finish was stripped, save for around the decals. I thought people stopped doing that in the 1980's. I hate to be "that guy" but that interior finish was original and could have been cleaned up with some beeswax oil. The before pictures do not tell me enough about the exterior finish, but even if it was really flakey, as it almost appears, I personally think there was enough original finish left to warrant saving it all.

The original post on this machine says it was headed to the landfill. Decal or not, there's no reason to rain on any parades now. I don't think it's at all junky now--here's to another ninety years of perfectly played foxtrots!

Nice Actuelle--I love how you did a lacquer finish on it, very 1920s! You captured the look perfectly, makes me wish my Brunswick York had turned out so well. I hope you have tons of records to play on it now and enjoy it for years!

How does it sound?!? I’m not really into these but it would be fun to play and I respect the uniqueness. The mechanics look great. I hate to say that the first thing I noticed was the decal areas, too. I definitely wouldn’t have refinished the inside. That being said, if you’re happy with it, enjoy it. It could be refinished better down the line. I have a Victrola x that I did as a teen that looks like this. Not bad, but one day it’d be nice to improve it.

I like the finish the way it is. A good compromise point on the "preserved" decals might be to get hold of Gregg Cline- if he doesn't already have these decals he might be able to custom make them. This would just entail redoing those two small panels. It could also be done any time. Win- win.

Dedrums, I'm very impressed with the excellent work that you did to save your machine from the landfill. The pictures show the great effort that was made to turn the cabinet around. Congratulations. I hope you continue to save more sad machines.

What a super job... Don't pay any attention to the "purest" out their.. and take any negativity with a grain of salt.. 98% of them wouldn't have taken on the task that you did and the machine might have actually ended up in the dump if it were not for you..

It's not like it's a one of a kind for god sake...

Keep up the good work.

Blizz

thanks a lot guys

I agree with the "yea-sayers": It looks lovely.

A question, as I have a diffusor but have never played one of the cabinet cousins: Actuelle was Pathé's line of lateral needle cut records. Do the Actuelle machines play only laterals? Or do they also play vertical sapphire ball cuts?

drh wrote:I agree with the "yea-sayers": It looks lovely.

A question, as I have a diffusor but have never played one of the cabinet cousins: Actuelle was Pathé's line of lateral needle cut records. Do the Actuelle machines play only laterals? Or do they also play vertical sapphire ball cuts?

The Actuelle machine shown in this thread plays both lateral and vertical cuts. You just need to rotate the arm by 90 degrees and the needle holder (and replace the needle for a sapphire). There are markings on the rim of the cone indicating the positions for each type of record.

This is a nice machine, looks well restored. I have a couple of them, one in mahogany finish and the other in oak. They are not identical, differ in the external details and one has the auto break while the other doesn't.