Phonograph repair and upkeep

Victrola Phonograph

Victrola VV-80

To begin repairing a phonograph you must first know how to remove the motor board. The motor board is the peice of wood that holds your turntable platter, brake, and tonearm. To clean and lube the motor we must first remove the turntable platter from the motor board, to do this you must simply lift up on the platter and turn the platter counter-clockwise. With the platter removed we can now deal with the screws around the motorboard. Depending on the model of your phonograph, you will either use a phillips head or flat head screwdriver to remove these screws, use which ever suits your model. Using your screwdriver, carefully remove the screws surrounding the motor board, and place them in a cup, away from your workstation. This will ensure that you do not lose any of them. With the screws removed, we can now pull the motor board out. On the motor board you will find two (2) nickel plated knobs, which are used to pull the motor board out of the case. By pulling straight up on these knobs you will free the motor board and gain access to your phonograph's motor. (note: make sure that your tonearm is pushed away from the motor board and in it's resting position before pulling the motor board out of the case) Once the motor board is out of the case, flip it over, and you should see a sticker which will show you exactly which parts to oil. In the event that your sticker is missing, I have posted a picture of the sticker below for your convenience. However, before attempting to oil your motor it must first be cleaned to remove hardened grease, etc. To properly clean your motor it must first be removed from the motor board. To do this, simply remove the screws attaching your motor to the motor board and place them in a seperate cup from the screws you removed earlier, and again keep this cup away from your workstation. With the motor removed from the motor board we can now begin cleaning the motor. First, find a container large enough to place the motor into and then fill the container with gasoline. (this will not damage the motor in any way) Allow the motor to sit in cantainer over night. The next day, take the motor out of the container and allow the motor to dry. repeat the processes above in reverse to reassemble your motor, that's all there is to it.           

Turn of the Century Entertainment and things they may need to stay functional (for the novice)

Family listening to radio

In 1900, the average worker made 12.98 a week for 59 hours, compare that to todays 7.00 an hour. As you can see from the figures above, most people of this era did not have very much money to spend on luxeries, almost every dime they made went toward the bare necessities. So it is fair to say that that is why we don't see alot of antiques today in regards to entertainment. When you do see these things, most of the time they are in need of atleast some kind of repair. For phonographs, this might include a full cleaning and lubing of the motor, or refinishing the cabinet, although some phonograph collectors tend to just leave the cabinets in as is condition for originality's sake. Other things like books, may need to have there bindings reglued because of rough handling or poor storage over the years. If you are not comfortable doing these things yourself, you can employ someone more qualified for the job, but at a much greater cost, as opposed to if you just learned how to do it yourself. Join me Friday for steps on how to properly disassemble a phonograph motor and lube it.

My First Post

Hello everyone, Welcome to C. Boone's Antiques, I would just like to introduce myself to the community, I have had a lifelong passion for antiques, starting at a very young age. Antiques are appealing to me because I have a high dislike for anything new, even as a small child I played with vintage toys. I geuss I also have a high dislike for modern society as well, it just doesn't appeal to me the way say, people lived in the Victorian era. Well anyway, enough ranting, join me Thursday for information about Victrolas.