The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello!

I’m looking for help in repairing some splitting wood underneath my Victrola VV-210? Attached are pictures of the splits. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thankfully it’s ok the bottom of the machine, since it’s not visible from the outside, I would leave it be, to get that board off would create more problems than it’s worth. If it bugs you, you could always find a nice wood filler that matches the grain of the wood and fill it. That won’t affect the structure of the machine any.
-Joshua

Thank you so much for the reply. Will wood filler reinforce the integrity of the machine though?? I guess that’s what I’m trying to do is reinforce so it’ll last another 100 years (give or take) without having to find or build a whole new cabinet.

Of course, I’m almost positive the case is rock solid, does it seem like it’s loose and moving around? If not then all wood filler will do is make it look like it doesn’t have splits in the wood. If the case is still sturdy then wood filler will clean up the splits. It won’t reinforce it any. It would be a major job trying to remove that panel and I feel that it would only end up creating more issues. The wood on these machines are old and dry, and splitting is something that comes with the age, I would be thankful that it split in a spot nobody would look. I’m ocd and it would bother me personally, and I tend to spend more time than needed making things perfect. I would take some wood filler and after that, a product I use on all of my machines is Howard’s “feed n wax” it’s really great product for keeping old wood and finish protected and rich. I apply every couple months and the wood always stays healthy.

Just my 2 cents but it's been my experience that only the veneer is splitting. The base wood is very likely fine. It's actually fairly common on Victrolas.

Steve

In the first picture it looks like the leg joint has been glued once before. That probably is why that wood has the splits there. If it's solid, leave it alone. Just be careful if you plan on moving it around.

James.

ChesterCheetah18 wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 8:56 pm Just my 2 cents but it's been my experience that only the veneer is splitting. The base wood is very likely fine. It's actually fairly common on Victrolas.

Steve

I'll add my 2 cents to Steve's. It's absolutely not a problem. Very normal, very common, and better than a lot of them.

I agree, and it’s on a non visible spot, no worries.

Victor for whatever reason never put any finish on the bottoms of their cabinets. I've only refinished around 60 so I haven't sampled a huge number but I haven't seen any exceptions. If that veneer isn't loose, I would give it a couple of coats of shellac down there. Often times it's all buckled up, or dropping off. I've gotten the bottoms damp, smoothed the veneer down and then worked glue under it and then weighted it down with sandbags with some waxed paper between and gotten things glued back down quite well. It's not always as nice as I'd like it to be, but at least it's stabilized and the shellac will settle things down so the veneer stays put. Your machine might have set over a heat register with those long legs.

Other place they did not finish was raw edges on the bottoms of doors. Pooley was really guilty of that and it leads to the face veneers popping loose on the door bottoms. Victor did get smart about that and put those fishbelly moldings around the bottoms of most of the cabinets they sold. Edison never seemed to concerned about that, and you'll see loose and chipped up veneer around the bottoms of those a lot. Those iron corners brackets that Victor "screwed" into place on the corners are almost never screwed in. Most of the time they just drove the screws in with a hammer. You'll know for sure if that shortcut was taken on your machine when you realize that your screwdriver won't go into the slots! I run into that with XVI's, XVII's and XVIII's almost every time. It's kind of funny, but I suppose they were in a hurry. Or the batteries were dead on the cordless screwdriver.....

Well good luck with your machine. It looks like the bottom is in pretty good shape overall. You'll be surprised at how much shellac that dry wood will pull out of the brush if you get some and seal things up down there.

Josh_boro20 wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 8:17 pm Of course, I’m almost positive the case is rock solid, does it seem like it’s loose and moving around? If not then all wood filler will do is make it look like it doesn’t have splits in the wood. If the case is still sturdy then wood filler will clean up the splits. It won’t reinforce it any. It would be a major job trying to remove that panel and I feel that it would only end up creating more issues. The wood on these machines are old and dry, and splitting is something that comes with the age, I would be thankful that it split in a spot nobody would look. I’m ocd and it would bother me personally, and I tend to spend more time than needed making things perfect. I would take some wood filler and after that, a product I use on all of my machines is Howard’s “feed n wax” it’s really great product for keeping old wood and finish protected and rich. I apply every couple months and the wood always stays healthy.

It feels a little wobbly when I crank it but the back leg snapped and was shoddily repaired by the previous owner so that could be it. Thank you for the advice, I will look into that Howard’s product!