Sounds like quite a job Curt! Glad you brought yours back from the edge. I'd say mine is about 90% ok. The rexine used on the case has a nice faux wood grain embossed into it and decorative florals on the corners, but the black color has dried and faded over time to a grayish blue. I think using some sort of coloring like shoe polish will help restore and protect.
It does have a few age tears / holes from wear and honest living which expose the underlying light colored weave of the rexine. That 10% hole damage is randomly spread about the case and makes it look like, er, it had suffered an attack from a flock of well-fed birds. ;) I'll look into the liquid electrical tape - it's sounds like a great way to patch! I'll give it a try, embossing as needed with some wrinkled aluminum foil to impress some grain onto the patches. Will the liquid accept it or will it flex back? Arvin On 2/1/13 8:50 PM, "Vinyl Visions" <[email protected]> wrote: >Hi Arvin,It kind of depends on the condition of the material on your >portable. I restored a Viva-Tonal last year that had been abused. The >material had holes in it that were duct taped over and it was a challenge >getting it back to presentable condition. If it just needs to be cleaned >- no problem. Soap and water or spray on bathroom cleaner will get the >grime off. If it has small tears or holes and is black in color, I found >that liquid electrical tape (get it at Home Depot or Lowes in the >electrical dept.) will fill and seal holes and tears and match pretty >close to the original material. Mine was a problem, since it had padding >under the covering and had large tears and cuts. For that, I cut off the >material from the bottom and removed the padding leaving an inch or so >around the edges, which I then glued down. I went to a fabric shop and >got some similar material which I glued to some 3/16" plywood that I cut >to the shape of the bottom of the case. Then, I screwed the material >covered plywood to the bottom and added some feet, which worked out >pretty good. So, again, current condition is the key to what needs to be >done to get it back to presentable. Some people may have been tempted to >scrap mine, which looked really rough, but a little time and creativity >brought it back to a state where it can be enjoyed and cosmetically it >looks good. Being a Viva-Tonal makes it worth the time to restore it, >since the sound quality is excellent...Curt > >> Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2013 19:35:07 -0500 >> From: [email protected] >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: [Phono-L] Advice Sought: cleaning, restoring, and preserving >>portable phono case material >> >> Hi All, >> >> How would you go about cleaning, restoring/repairing, and preserving the >> outer case material of a portable phonograph? I have just recently >>come by >> a U.K. Portable Columbia Viva-Tonal. >> >> I've heard of using water with a splash of Dawn to clean off grime, shoe >> polish to restore color, and then sometimes shellac / clear polyfinish >>as an >> additional seal (and to lock down loose, torn, and frayed fabric). >> >> Does that sound about right or are there more preferred alternatives? >> >> Thanks! >> >> Arvin >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Phono-L mailing list >> http://phono-l.org > _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
