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I have an HMV 194 with the legs shortened by four inches. Otherwise looks lovely and sounds great. Does anyone know of an empty case available in the UK? Brian

pianola wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2026 10:44 am I have an HMV 194 with the legs shortened by four inches. Otherwise looks lovely and sounds great. Does anyone know of an empty case available in the UK? Brian

It looks very nice even with shortened legs. I think someone reproduced the legs of HMV 202 in Australia. You should check into it. Good luck!!

pianola wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2026 10:44 am I have an HMV 194 with the legs shortened by four inches. Otherwise looks lovely and sounds great. Does anyone know of an empty case available in the UK? Brian

This is the website. viewtopic.php?t=60370&start=30

I had a look at the website but I won’t be ordering any legs. Empty cases turn up on a regular basis. So I will wait. If a nice example of a complete193 or 194 appears, I will sell mine and buy a complete one. Brian

Why not restore it?

Garret

pianola wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2026 2:33 am I had a look at the website but I won’t be ordering any legs. Empty cases turn up on a regular basis. So I will wait. If a nice example of a complete193 or 194 appears, I will sell mine and buy a complete one. Brian

I don't think empty cabinets in a great shape would show up often.
Also, most empty cabinets have a lot of issues. Yes, restoring those legs is a good project. You have a great HMV 194 in great condition without appropriate legs. Somebody might provide the photos of original legs with measurements, so you can restore those legs by yourself.

I don't think empty cabinets turn up too often either. This is one of those situations where you either have to live with a legless example or wait for a complete and more expensive one to come along. He doesn't want to waste time and money to restore something that will be very costly to do and likely never look quite right. I can't say I blame him. I mean, it's not exactly common to find a repolished HMV cabinet machine that looks anything close to the original, let alone a complete set of new legs and stretcher stitched on. Mahogany is not as easy to finish as oak, and matching it to the original will be almost impossible.

As for "appropriate legs", given this cabinet, I'd go for broke and if anything, fit inappropriate legs; something of the period but not what's expected, maybe Queen Anne style, shorter legs with ball and claw feet, maybe? It certainly won't devalue the gramophone any more.