The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Through trial and error i found a great way to firm up and fix loose and falling out casters. Remove the caster, caster sleeve and brass ring. Clean up the bottom with some sanding and clean out the hole using a vac to remove dust etc. Mix up some 2 part bondo wood filler and fill the hole using a nail or something else to push in the filler until the hole is completely full. Wipe the leg end so only filler is in the hole, not on the end. Let dry a couple hours and drill a small pilot hole, then drill using the correct size bit for the caster sleeve.
This filler drills very well and is really strong and firms up the hole very for excellent caster support.
The picture shows the hole and a temp caster i was using until the originals are reconditioned.

Excellent tip Jon! I find that Bondo is good for lots of things involving wood. Nothing more annoying than casters that fall out. Good looking repair Too! Thanks!

I also brush and polish the metal rings as you can see from the picture. To secure them I drill two small holes under the outer ring at a downward angle and use small brass pin nails (used for clock repairs) to secure them. When the victrola is sitting upright, you cant see the nail heads. This helps prevent those rings from falling off. I don't think I have ever gotten a Victrola that didn't have at least one of the castors and/or rings falling off so I do this as a procedure on all my restorations. I think bad/stuck castors and or missing rings are one one of the main the reasons for legs splitting.