The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi all, thanks for letting me join. I’m a newbie to working on Victrolas and need some help with my project. I’m currently about halfway around on my 78th circle of the sun, so be gentle with me please.

My stepson was given a box of parts… a Victor Vic. II with essentially no motor. This old gem belonged to his great grandfather. So, I declared that it would run again. I had trouble from the beginning, not realizing that what I read on the data plate as 11 was actually II. Anyway, I couldn’t find a motor for it, so I bought a motor from a Victor VV-1X off ebay. I hope this story doesn’t horrify anyone here, but here it is.
I managed to shoehorn the motor into the case, made an adapter spacer for the platter so it would sit at the right height and adapted the speed control to work. The thing plays!
The reproducer is very sad. The needle lock screw is broken off and the diaphragm is cracked, but I managed to shim a needle with tiny brass tubing and get the thing wedged into the holder. Success…

So, I ordered a rebuilt reproducer, given that the basic machine works now. The reproducer will have to be adapted also. Seems there is nothing interchangeable about this thing. I did read that interchangeability wasn’t a thing for Victor at the time. I think this is a 1910 machine. The hard rubber part that holds the reproducer on is broken and currently held together with hot glue for the test.

I have a question:
1. How does the double spring motor work? Does winding one fully then start winding the second spring?
I’m making a crank adapter, the shaft on the new motor is larger than the old and I want to use the old crank.

I’m reading about cleaning records on the site now.

I hope this Frankenstein creation doesn’t upset anyone. This would probably have been thrown away if I hadn’t taken on the project.

The springs both wind simultaneously. Having 2 barrels is a more compact arrangement than having one enormous spring. So really, the second spring is just a continuation of the first.

Any Exhibition reproducer should be interchangeable with any Victor II. You need to order a rubber mounting flange as I believe they are again available.

Thanks!
The reproducer, an Exhibition model, has what appears to be a mounting flange on it. It is of course different from mine.
Here is the player as it is now, sitting on an old table that belonged to my Grandma. The table will be completely disassembled and refinished as will the player.

Update:
I cut the hot glue off of the old reproducer and the mounting flange IS the same. Good news. Thanks for mentioning it. One less modification to make.

You have a very nice looking Vic II--- I'd like to suggest that you hold off on doing any stripping/refinishing. Perhaps post some close-up pictures of the case. It appears to be original finish--and if so, it could be easily cleaned and made to look great. Once it is stripped, the originality is gone for good. When the re-purposed motor was put in was a new crank hole drilled?--
There is a lot of help that can be gleaned on this forum. I've collected and restored machines for 48 years and there are many others who have more extensive experience than I have with case restoration... I'd suggest stepping back and gathering some opinions on the best path forward. I think in the end you'll be happy you did. Your machine is a nice, classic Victor phonograph that will look great if properly restored.

Brad Abell

BTW-- A new back flange for the reproducer can be ordered from Brian Parlier-- The Phonograph Shop.

Here's the link to the flange:
https://thephonographshop.com/products/ ... ack-flange

Brad Abell

Thanks guys.
What I intend for the case is to use Howard Restor-a-finish. It doesn’t remove the old finish, but cleans it up. The case isn’t beat up but it is quite grimy and dull in places. Once the cabinet is done, I will know what to do with the table to make it match.

I had to cut a piece of the case out to fit the motor. I’ll post a pic of the carnage. I hope to make it as unobtrusive as possible. It should blend in and really not be noticeable to most people. It will be flush on the outside. (The inside has been routed out to clear the motor frame) The piece has to be removable because the shaft sticks out through the side. I will use my 3d printer to make a new escutcheon to fit the crank assembly.

outune wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2024 8:19 pm BTW-- A new back flange for the reproducer can be ordered from Brian Parlier-- The Phonograph Shop.

Here's the link to the flange:
https://thephonographshop.com/products/ ... ack-flange

Brad Abell

Thanks for the link. I had originally planned to 3D print a replacement and use the old bushing but then I found a very nice rebuilt unit. I may go ahead and rebuild the old reproducer myself. That should be a challenge. The tiny needle clamping screw is broken off flush.

A couple more questions:

Are the brake pads for the turntable and governor leather?

Is the data plate brass? It is very difficult to read and I would like to clean it up some.

You can see that the serial number is just about impossible to read. And, in both pics, the flaking of the finish is pretty bad. I’m hoping the Howard’s stuff is similar to the old Formby’s furniture refinisher and turns out well.

I am making progress. Slowly…

The cabinet is ready for a coat of paste wax and then I can reinstall the motor and all the hardware. I did get a beautiful rebuilt reproducer. And, I intend to rebuild the original one, the parts are here. The table it will sit on is rebuilt now. It had to be completely disassembled and is being refinished. It was in quite sad shape. The table is glued up and waiting for finish.

Also, I managed to clean the data plate without completely ruining it. I’m happy with the result and amazed by the detail in it.
The old finish (shellac?) was so crazed and damaged I ended up hand scraping most of the cabinet. Then the Howards refinisher made it look nice. A rubdown with Feed-N-Wax produced what you see now. Paste wax goes on tomorrow.
I also managed to get a nice selection of good records at a reasonable price.

Thanks again for the help and access to the forum.