Enquiry: Richard Redgrave

21/3/2015

Name: Richard Redgrave
Email: irina_redgrave@mail.ru

Hello,

I'm a fairly new recruit to the society, and have a few
basic questions about care of your phonograph. I'm very much a beginner as a
collector and as i have a limited budget, i seem destined to nurse old barn
finds back to life. I recently brought the remains of a standard model a
phonograph, ( it has no feed screw, carriage arm or winding handle, but on
the plus side, had 2/4 minute kit lying in the bottom of the box under the
motor!) The main question i would like to ask is how to treat the case, -
the banner is in tact but the varnish is a bit flakey and i would like to
preserve it. Also, are there any good books you could recommend on looking
after your phonograph?

Kind regards,
Richard.

2 Comments

Keith Harrison

15/7/2016 11:43:02 am

Dear Richard

Welcome to the addictive hobby of phonographs. There are many helpful articles in the CLPGS magazine 'For the Record'', and also in the scanned copy of its predecessor 'Hilladale'. Probably the best all-round book on phonograph maintenance is 'The Compleat Talking Machine' by Eric Reiss. This was produced in 1986 and is now out of print, but can be found on eBay, Abe Books, and at record fairs like Brentford and Powick.

Richard Redgrave

2/4/2017 10:52:36 pm

Thank you Kieth for your kind response! I'm so sorry for my late reply!(almost a year late!) Truth is, I've just visited the queries section of the clpgs website in order to post the same question (not relising my earlier enquiry to the society had been published), when scrolling down, discovered my own earlier quiery with your comment attached! I have been lucky enough to obtain the book you mention (good old ebay!) I suppose what I'm after, is some very specfic advice on exactly which products / brands/ methods to use to revive some very tired cases.(lead by the hand if you like, as I seem to lack confidence where treatment of the woodwork is concerned). I now have a couple of extreemly distressed edison standard bases on which to practice, - they are arguably so bad, that anything I do to them is bound to be of some improvement!
Methods mentioned by others include first cleaning the surface with a proprietory cleanser or something called TOM (a mixture of three equal parts: Turpentine, linseed oil & meths), followed by an application of Briwax, Black Bison, Bees wax, or other proprietary product, - all applied with 0000 guage wire wool, (I have heard of people simply cleaning the woodwork with washing up liquid).
What are your thoughts, - have you any other specific methods you could recommend I try?
In the meantime, I'll see what Ries has to say on it, - looking forward to an Easter holiday bringing some tired old machines back to somethinglike their old glory,
Kind regards,
Richard

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