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This is my first Victrola project and it went well.

About six months ago I went to Las Vegas for a family visit. This L-Door followed me home. It was stored in a garage, but it had a good life indoors for many years. It was dirty, the finish was dry with some areas of shellack getting rough, one spring was damaged, and a pin holding a winding gear sheared of from being overwound.

The shellack that was just rough to the touch and you would not be able to have a microfiber cloth glide over it. So, I took a new razor blade and essentially shaved the burs off of the affected areas. It worked and it was easy! The top of the lid was the worst and it is now smooth to the touch. Then I continued this over the all flat surfaces shave any other burs.

The entire cabinet then was cleaned with Gojo (non-pumice). Then it was wiped down with Howard Restore-A-Finish, lightly applied with fine steel wool. Finally, I used Renaissance wax to finish it. Now you can wipe silk over it.

The gold was cleaned with ammonia and Renaissance waxed. The felt only needed to be brushed. Felt sliders added under the feet. That took care of the non-mechanical parts.

The old springs were cleaned and greased with the new one. A replacement pin was made from a finishing nail. After a basic servicing of the rest, it was reassembled and tested. It is a quite smooth running motor.

A side note. I had trouble getting the springs to stay hooked on the shaft. I needed to go to Harbor Freight for angled needle nose pliers. With those, I was able to grab and squeeze the spring until it worked correctly. Then testing it by hand several times, rotating the shaft to force it to unhook and then rotating it to re-hook.

Today, I finished putting the parts under the hood. After minor speed adjusting, I began to wind and wind the three springs. Smooth winding. Smooth playing for about 15 minutes.

I’m a happy camper!

I learned much from reading and asking questions on this forum!

Thanks,
James.

Do you think if I came around with some doggy biscuits it would follow me home too. That is a nice find and looks like it will clean up nicely. Vegas has a warm dry climate which is not hard on the phonographs. Tom

Very nice!! Thanks for sharing your technique. Did you take any before photos? Steve L.

Looks great, James!

Unlike most visitors you came home from Vegas a real winner. Congratulations on a job well done. Jerry

Thanks for the replies. I did not take any "before" photos since there was nothing interesting to overcome. Later, I will add a photo about shaving the burs,

The odds were in my favor. I couldn't loose!

James.

Here's how I shaved the surface to remove the burs. The blade is almost flat to the surface and with very little downward pressure I pulled the razor towards me. It was very effective in this situation.

You did a terrific job, James, it looks stunning. It's a pity you didn't take pictures of the "before" state, as I have recently purchased an HMV 163 that, reading your description, seems to have pretty much the same finish issues. However, it has some weird decolored areas, and I don't know to which degree Howard Restore-A-Finish might be able to cure those.

I don't remember if I already told you in the past that I have close friends in Tucson, what about a pair of drinks and few 78s next time that I'll be in town? (don't worry... last time I was there it was 2004! ).

Excellent job on this VV-XVI. Reminds me much of my current work with my VV XI. I have cleaned and greased the motor, and tried both Howard's "Restor a Finish" and Renessaince wax, and also used a cleaner similar to Gojo. Still I strive with discolored areas on my VV XI.
So Marco, I am not sure if "Restor A Finish" will cure your HMV 163. Next up for me is also working on the finish on my HMV 145 and 157, but I am still not sure how to attack it. On Graham Barbers website he is using Liberon Wood Dye, after stripping his oak HMV 163, but I also do not (yet) get the results I hoped for when testing the Liberon Wood Dye on a tabletop oak HMV 109. It will not cover the woodfiller I have used for the restoration, and at the time being I am admittedly a bit stuck

Those are also my thoughts. I would avoid stripping it completely as I feel it's unnecessary (Graham's 163 was almost ready for the dump instead, and he truly did an amazing job with it!), but at the same time touching up those discoloured areas would require a hue specialist.

When I first saw this Victrola I knew that it would be an easy project using basic rejuvenation techniques. Luckily, I did not have any discoloration or damage to deal with. I would not have bought a mahogany Victrola with issues above my current skill level and project backlog!

I once tried blending a mahogany cabinet door using a gel-stain. It looked good for what it was, but it lost the reflectivity of the wood.

Marco - Tucson is a great little city. You're due for a visit, just as I'm due for Italy again. In 2006(?) was in Rome, Venice, and Stressa.

James.