The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I’m a new TMF member who recently bought a Victor Victrola Credenza, which appears to be complete save for the hand crank. I’ve been scouring eBay to purchase one, but realize that most hand cranks are not listed by machine, but merely by size (at best). Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to determine the cranks size by looking here or anywhere else on the net. So I was wondering if any Credenza owners on the TMF could post the dimensions of the hand crank, or direct me to where in the forum they’re listed.

I have found a few victrola repair places online that I could ask for the part, but I’m willing to wait a little while for the part to come up on eBay, both to save myself a little money and to read up on Victrola maintenance and operation. If this takes too long, I’ll probably just cave in and buy from an established repair place.

Thanks, Des

I think the length depends on whether or not the turntable is centered (with no set of padded wood pieces to set records), or offset with the record rest. There was a thread regarding this with a link to another inside it:

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=28982

Hope this is of some help.

Thank you for the quick reply, Coyote. This thread has exactly the information I’m looking for. My Credenza has a centrally placed platter, so I guess the longer 12 inch hand crank is the one I’m looking for.

Truth be told, I didn’t even realize there was a version of the Credenza with the platter displaced to the right side, so I just learned some useful info I didn’t even know I needed. I could easily imagine myself having bought a ‘Credenza Hand Crank’ on line, and the only finding out when it arrived that it was too short,. Thanks again, Des.

By the way, welcome to the forum. Good luck in your search, and make sure the crank IS for a Credenza, having the correct threaded end. The name plate only read "Credenza" for about the first year of production. It was later renamed "VV 8-30." Victor-Victrola Page This is also when the turntable shifted off-center, and I believe the decal under the lid became the less-ornate version. If you have any other questions about the care or maintenance of your machine in the future, post them in the Machines section, and our members will be happy to help! There is a wealth of info on the forum, but the search function on here can be limited. Instead, use Google to search the forum as indicated in this post.

Des,
Welcome to the Forum! You came to the right place for all phonograph related topics. You are starting out with a great machine. I would check out the links section for George Vollema and/or Ron Haring. They are the best resources for parts.
Ken

Thanks again, guys. I think the advice regarding search will come in handy, as I’m sure I’ll have a lot of questions. And I suspect I’ll become impatient waiting for just the right part at the right price to come up on eBay, so the names of the parts suppliers will be useful, too.

From now on, I’ll post my questions in the Machine section. It occurred to me just after my first post that that was the more relevant section for my query, as I was neither buying or selling anything. But I didn’t know how to move the post after submitting it. Thanks, Des

Btw, there are Credenzas with both centered and off centered turn tables. The 8-30 of course was only offered off centered.

If you do not know the proper length of your crank yet, might I suggest that you take a long rod or dowel and slide it in the escutcheon hole to gauge the depth of the crank from motor side to cabinet/escutcheon side?

Now for something completely different :::: (queue The Liberty Bell March )

My crank is from a centered turntable Credenza 4 door.

1. From the escutcheon to the end of crank nose we have 9 ½ inches (see wear mark in picture)

2. From the end of crank nose to the vertical part of the crank centerline, 11 ⅝ inches

3. From the end of crank nose to the end of the threads is ⅝ inches

All dimensions are approximate.

You should be able to add/subtract the distance you get from the dowel I suggested above with the dimensions I provided. Just need to be sure if you end up at the motor side or are in the crank hole and are completely all in the crank hole.

Hope this helps.

Bob

Thanks for the tip Bob.

Just thought I’d add a photo of my new toy. Des

Looks like mine