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I am very tempted to clean this ERJ Victor Type B. You can see a lot of nickel plating under years of grime and ?. I would like to read what others think before I attempt to clean it.

Also, changed the fiber gear to a new one and now runs great. I will keep the old gear with the machine....although missing three teeth.

Very nice. I would only clean it and enjoy it. It looks like it has a replacement governor drive gear. How well does it run?

The metal parts currently have a patina that has a low in contrast between the what's left of the plating and the corrosion. Increasing the contrast will only draw attention to the corrosion. If this makes sense, gently clean the wood without increasing its contrast to the metal parts. I think this will retain an overall aged patina, like a fine piece of furniture.

James.

Ken, yes the fiber spindle gear has been replaced by me. Since the original had three (in a row) damaged teeth, it would make a loud clicking noise and jam when the tension was lower. Now, it plays nice and like new.

James, that is my main concern. Once you start to remove the 100+ years of patina, there is no going back and could as you say contrast the corrosion more. I'm leaning toward leaving as found.

Fantastic example of a very important machine. Clean only top layer of surface dirt. Highly desirable with the patina the way it is. Shining up the metal components would only call attention to the imperfections. Congratulations on owning this and having the good sense and sensitivity to ask this question.

I agree with the previous responses. Once the patina is gone, it ain't coming back!

[quote="gramophone78"]Ken, yes the fiber spindle gear has been replaced by me. Since the original had three (in a row) damaged teeth, it would make a loud clicking noise and jam when the tension was lower. Now, it plays nice and like new.

The gear looks like the ones I had made for myself and Ron Sitko. The key in their installation is to use a rivet with a very thin head. Otherwise, the heads will hit the inside of the case. Nice job!!!! Enjoy great machine.

Victor VII wrote:Fantastic example of a very important machine. Clean only top layer of surface dirt. Highly desirable with the patina the way it is. Shining up the metal components would only call attention to the imperfections. Congratulations on owning this and having the good sense and sensitivity to ask this question.

Thank you for your thoughts. It certainly is a rarely found model. The other concern about cleaning is the nickel plate used was very poorly applied back then and quite thin. It is known to flake just breathing on it... . So, what remains, could be easily removed by cleaning and that would only hurt the machine cosmetically in my opinion.

Phono-Phan wrote:The gear looks like the ones I had made for myself and Ron Sitko. The key in their installation is to use a rivet with a very thin head. Otherwise, the heads will hit the inside of the case. Nice job!!!! Enjoy great machine.

Ken, the gear was made by a friend of mine in Europe. I was able to reuse the original copper rivets. Fortunately, there was enough copper on them to punch out and peen. As mentioned, I will keep the original gear with the machine for a future collector.

That is a beautiful machine - I love the patina and would not clean it one bit