I think I used Noxon the last time I polished my nickel Columbia horn. The nickel is tough but, true, you don't want to wear it away, so using a very fine abrasive is the way to go, even if you have to polish longer.
Ron L -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Antique Phonograph List Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2014 11:31 PM To: Antique Phonograph List Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Columbia BI Sterling What to use on that horn is the $64,000 question. I use Mothers Polish. Easy does it no matter what you use. Mike Stitt AKA Oldcranky On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 5:57 PM, Antique Phonograph List < [email protected]> wrote: > George is at [email protected] > > I'd use Dupont car polish, white on the nickel and aluminum. Be sure to > remove the excess before it dries. > > Ron L > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] > On > Behalf Of Antique Phonograph List > Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2014 8:27 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Columbia BI Sterling > > Thanks! What would you use to polish the metal parts? And how does > one get in touch with George? It's been a long time; I don't think I > have his contact information anymore. > > > To: [email protected] > > Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 19:51:53 -0400 > > From: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Columbia BI Sterling > > > > I would think George Vollema would have the escutcheon and crank. I > > think you're right about the latch part. Does it line up in any way > > with a metal part on the motorboard/lid? > > Arm was always raw aluminum I think. It will polish up. The other > nickel > > bits may polish up pretty well too. I'd try that first. The > > probably did look pretty shiny/bright when new. The felt was > > probably a muted green. I think the speed knob is a twist to set > > speed, push pull for > on/off. > > I use mechanic's waterless hand cleaner for cases. Apply, rub and > > wipe > off. > > I have not seen any reaction with decals but don't rub hard/long > > there just in case. > > > > Nice that it has the trim ring on the TT. These are often missing and > > impossible to find. > > > > Ron L > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] > > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Antique > > Phonograph List > > Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2014 6:40 PM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: [Phono-L] Columbia BI Sterling > > > > I'm not typically a fan of external-horn machines (strange, I know), > > but I came upon this one last weekend and liked it, so I picked it up. > > It's a Columbia BI Sterling, unrestored and pretty complete. As far > > as I can tell, all it's missing is the escutcheon for the crank > > slot, and the original crank. It's a nice machine, and I'd like to > > restore it. Some > > questions: > > > > 1. Should that crank-slot escutcheon be fairly easy to find? Were > > they standard on several machines? > > > > 2. What style crank would be correct? Are they easy to find? > > > > 3. What is that little hole over the handle (photo #8) for? Is > > something missing there? I think it might be the lid-latch, but I'm > > not > sure. > > > > 4. > > The hardware -- horn, tone arm, reproducer -- were clearly > > nickel-plated, but have faded a and tarnished a lot. I'd like to > > try cleaning them up first to see how far that will get me. How > > should I go about this? And if that doesn't work, has anyone here > > had a positive experience with nickel re-plating? > > > > 5. If I decide to go ahead and electroplate them all, how can I > > avoid them looking shiny like chrome? My objective is to make them > > look as they did originally. And any idea how much that would cost? > > > > 6. Any idea what color it the turntable felt would have been when new? > > (It's all gone now.) > > > > 7. How does that on/off/speed regulator knob work? > > > > 8. What would be the best way to clean up the case without > > refinishing it or damaging that beautiful decal? > > > > Thanks! > > > > 7. Does anything else appear wrong/missing? There is > no > > screw inside the > > case to connect the support -- I assume that vanished a long time ago. > > Anything else look suspicious? > > > > Thanks! > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was > > scrubbed... > > Name: 1.JPG > > Type: image/jpeg > > Size: 153259 bytes > > Desc: not available > > URL: > > <http://oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/attachments/20140727/64908818 > > /a > > ttachm > > ent.jpe> > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was > > scrubbed... > > Name: 2.JPG > > Type: image/jpeg > > Size: 158611 bytes > > Desc: not available > > URL: > > <http://oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/attachments/20140727/64908818 > > /a > > ttachm > > ent-0001.jpe> > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was > > scrubbed... > > Name: 3.JPG > > Type: image/jpeg > > Size: 148477 bytes > > Desc: not available > > URL: > > <http://oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/attachments/20140727/64908818 > > /a > > ttachm > > ent-0002.jpe> > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was > > scrubbed... > > Name: 4.JPG > > Type: image/jpeg > > Size: 157844 bytes > > Desc: not available > > URL: > > <http://oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/attachments/20140727/64908818 > > /a > > ttachm > > ent-0003.jpe> > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was > > scrubbed... > > Name: 5.JPG > > Type: image/jpeg > > Size: 153311 bytes > > Desc: not available > > URL: > > <http://oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/attachments/20140727/64908818 > > /a > > ttachm > > ent-0004.jpe> > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was > > scrubbed... > > Name: 6.JPG > > Type: image/jpeg > > Size: 154112 bytes > > Desc: not available > > URL: > > <http://oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/attachments/20140727/64908818 > > /a > > ttachm > > ent-0005.jpe> > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was > > scrubbed... > > Name: 7.JPG > > Type: image/jpeg > > Size: 156160 bytes > > Desc: not available > > URL: > > <http://oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/attachments/20140727/64908818 > > /a > > ttachm > > ent-0006.jpe> > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was > > scrubbed... > > Name: 8.JPG > > Type: image/jpeg > > Size: 156672 bytes > > Desc: not available > > URL: > > <http://oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/attachments/20140727/64908818 > > /a > > ttachm > > ent-0007.jpe> > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was > > scrubbed... > > Name: 9.JPG > > Type: image/jpeg > > Size: 151552 bytes > > Desc: not available > > URL: > > <http://oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/attachments/20140727/64908818 > > /a > > ttachm > > ent-0008.jpe> > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was > > scrubbed... > > Name: 10.JPG > > Type: image/jpeg > > Size: 152576 bytes > > Desc: not available > > URL: > > <http://oldcrank.org/pipermail/phono-l/attachments/20140727/64908818 > > /a > > ttachm > > ent-0009.jpe> > > _______________________________________________ > > Phono-L mailing list > > http://phono-l.org > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Phono-L mailing list > > http://phono-l.org > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.org > > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.org > _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
