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Old 8th Nov 2018, 6:11 pm   #4
BillDWVA
Pentode
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK.
Posts: 139
Default Re: Ferrograph 4A: Restoration advice needed

Hi,

I have been working on the restoration of Vortexion tape recorders with the same deck and can offer the following:

The deck components are all nickel or cadmium plated and if you strip it completely apart you may be able to either polish the parts or have them pickled and re-plated.

The mounting screws - which are BA thread - are nickel plated and will easily polish up nicely. I did one deck one screw at a time with metal polish with reasonable results.

The paint finish was of a good standard from the factory and so long as there is no actual rust or bubbling from below you can use ‘T -cut’ or similar cutting compound to polish away the dirt and then car wax to bring back the gleam.

Pressure pads can be re-faced with felt. Search for ‘Piano tuner’s felt’ for suitable felt. I cut new cubes of felt and glued them to the existing backing wings after scraping away the remains of the old.

Your deck is a Series 4 and it is a fairly easy job to strip down, clean and re-grease the capstan spindle bearings. Unscrew and remove the top bracket before attempting to undo the nut holding the spindle from below the lower flywheel bearing. Ferrograph used thread lock on virtually every nut and screw.

Hope this helps.
Bill
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