The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hey everyone, I just finished my finals today! So what better way to spend the rest of the day than cleaning a phonograph? I spent about 3 hours carefully cleaning my edison home with fine steel wool and GOJO soap. I am really happy with how much grease and dirt I was able to get out of the wood, although as I expected the finish is shot.

Is there a good way to strip the finish and leave the stain in the wood? This phonograph has the potential to be really beautiful, but I think the finish needs help... Can someone give me advice/tell me what to do? I still want to preserve some "originalness" about this phonograph. As seen in one of the pictures,the back brace "preserved" the original finish.
I also need to order a new decal this one is gone.

ALSO, how should I clean the black paint without ruining it? Is it clean enough as is?


Anyways I would like to hear feedback from yall.. how did I do so far?

thanks,
David

The black paint looks a lot better than when you showed me this machine (Thanks so much, by the way, for the tour!) and I think it's fine. That rust on the carriage slider rail is really grody-looking, though. Do get some very fine abrasives around 6000 grit (like the foam automotive polishing discs) and a piece of wood or brass to make a square sander, and shine it. That will make your machine run more smoothly. I use those pads sometimes for fixing the carriage rods on old Underwood typewriters which, like Edison phonographs, run on a film of oil instead of more modern ball-bearings.

Decal: phonodecal.com should have all you need. Gregg Cline makes the finest in the business, all but indistinguishable from Edison original stock. You will want to do your first coats of finish first--don't rush it. Don't feel sad too much for the original. Not only do they fare poorly in tough condition like yours, but typewriters were often rebuilt & repainted back in the day and were re-done with fresh decals. You are not losing anything by a refreshing...after all, the phonograph is 111 years old (assuming build date of 1908) and has been treated like garbage for many of those years. It's a marvel someone hadn't scrapped it for old iron or burned it for firewood by now. To have it survive is one thing--and the motor still turns, too, which is even nicer.

The machine looks nicer now that you've cleaned its wooden box. To strip the finish from the wood & leave the original Edison stain, get some denatured alcohol & #0000 steel wool, and soak the steel wool and then just go until it's got no old shellac left on it. You'll have to shellac the new stain OR, for a beautiful finish that looks period but isn't quite, use Deft brand nitrocellulose brushing lacquer. There are threads here on the Forum about how to do that.

The finish under the back bracket--take a good look, for it shouldn't be there long. I'd strip that too after photographng & remembering the color, and then do it back to however it comes out after the clear coats go on.

Did you get it where the corner isn't falling apart, or do you still have some clamping and reconstruction to do?
Also, have you tracked down a fresh drive belt leather yet?
Thirdly, you will simply have to rebuild the motor. While you're at it, it might be good for you to do the Edison Standard you have and get its top-works adjusted as the Standard is a reliable player (that Searchlight horn is a beauty, even rusted) and you will need to get it playing so you can spin cylinders while you work on the Home.

Happy repairing! Folks will look at that thing 100 years from now and know it fell into good hands--especially for like sixty bucks. You did good and are doing just fine.