"Another Fine Mess" Columbia Regent Junior

[schweg]

This was on Craigslist several months ago, I made an offer that was refused. The Columbia Regent Jr. was introduced in 1911 at a price of $150. Baumbach's Columbia Disc Graphophone/Grafonola book says it was only produced for a short time so I thought it was worth making an offer in spite of some issues shown in the CL pictures. According to the seller, the top needed refinishing and it looked to me like it had a bad water stain.

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It went off CL but then returned about a month later, at the price I had previously offered. I contacted the seller and was able to make the purchase based on the pictures. I drove 2.5 hrs to get it and saw that what I thought was a stain, was actually where someone had started chipping away at the veneer where there was likely a problem due to water damage.

I debated whether or not to complete the purchase, I hadn't much experience replacing veneer, but went ahead and made the purchase since I knew someone who had experience and I thought he might help me out. Jerry lives on the north side of town and we had competed on a Victor 8-12 at auction and I had later sold him a XVII. I worked on stripping off the remaining veneer, it wasn't too bad after all, just water and manual labor. The rest of the cabinet looked OK but someone had started stripping or sanding it so it needed a total re-do...

I took it up to Jerry's and we worked for several hours on a Sunday afternoon. It was interesting to see his technique and I would not be hesitant to try it now that I saw what he did.

Then I spent a number of hours removing the remaining finish and re-staining the remainder of the cabinet.

[schweg]

All in all, it turned out all right. Thanks to my friend Jerry though for getting the top in condition to make it look pretty good overall. Not such a mess after all.. Steve

[schweg]

Forgot to put this in near the top.

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[Phonofreak]

Nice machine. You and Jerry did a great job restoring it. What kind of glue did you use for the veneer? What was your technique?
Harvey Kravitz

[estott]

That's a nice one- very pleasing proportions, much nicer that the Regent which is chunky.

[schweg]

Harvey, to the experienced woodworkers, this was probably pretty elementary. We used contact cement, and a piece of veneer that was about an inch larger than the top. After securing it, and rolling it out with a roller to remove any bubbles, Jerry used a straight edge to trim off the excess, and then sanded it all down with 600 grit sand paper. There were a few cracks in the top that we sanded beforehand but they still left some slight warps in the veneer. Not really all that noticeable and I think it looks pretty good without doing any real major work.

[Phototone]

I always wondered, having never seen one in person, about the playing position, drawer out, or in. Does the part of the horn that is attached to the turntable part, nest up and seal with a larger horn extension when the turntable is pulled out?

[schweg]

Here are pictures with drawer in, and out. It looks as if it'd be better to close the drawer while playing but I don't know how smoothly that could be accomplished with a record revolving as you push it in. Don't think I'll try it with any of my favorites.

IN:

OUT:

[Phonofreak]

Harvey, to the experienced woodworkers, this was probably pretty elementary. We used contact cement, and a piece of veneer that was about an inch larger than the top. After securing it, and rolling it out with a roller to remove any bubbles, Jerry used a straight edge to trim off the excess, and then sanded it all down with 600 grit sand paper. There were a few cracks in the top that we sanded beforehand but they still left some slight warps in the veneer. Not really all that noticeable and I think it looks pretty good without doing any real major work.

What type of contact cement did you use? Years ago, I tries to re-veneer a large area like yours.I followed all of the steps like it said on the can. I used a roller the smooth and get rid of the bubbles. After it cured for a couple of days, I stained the veneer. The veneer bubbled and lifted. It was a disaster and have never attempted to do this again. I don't know if this was bad glue or what I did wrong. I now take veneering projects to a wood worker until I learn the technique
Harvey Kravitz

[schweg]

Jerry bought DAP "Weldwood". After applying to both surfaces, we waited til it was completely dry prior to putting the veneer on the top.