Ballerina music boxes, inlaid music boxes, music jewelry boxes, boxes of cylindrical music and antique music boxes are exquisite and beautiful. As most music boxes and antique collectors know, sometimes they need repair and restoration to save them. For this special job, it is important to choose a company that is reputable and an expert in this field. With a little research, these companies can usually be found no matter where you are in the world. One such company and expert is Mr. Jim Weir.
Jim makes all kinds of repair and restoration of antique music boxes. His work includes the repair of ridges, release and adjustment, damping, repair of cylinders and the operation of the bridge. Jim also offers all sorts of musical boxing work on disc and cylindrical music boxes.
Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing Jim about his repair and restoration in the musical corps, which, by the way, is managed from Scotland. Let's learn more about Jim; his hopes, and get a detailed look at what it is, how to manage the repair and restoration of the music box.
Jim started talking about himself:
“What can I tell you about myself? Well, I have been working on music boxes for most of the 30 years. My wife and I live in Scotland with our two daughters, one of them at school and at university. Depending on the workload, my wife and both daughters help attach the cylinders, I think this is a family business?
1. Could you describe in detail your online and offline business operations, your services and / or products?
“I used the Internet to search for consumables for the workshops, including the machine I use to grind and trim inverted cylinders for music cabinets. I recently started advertising in the magazine MBSI. I almost never bought or sold music boxes; I have a good workshop, but not a retail store or a display rack. They are likely to fall before they buy a particular music box, and where the client is looking for a certain type of box, which I sometimes managed to find one, but other than that my main business is repair work, everything from complete restoration to partial work, especially a comb. and cylinder work. I have a very good team of finishers (people who put new studs in the cylinders for me to finish) and after advertising in the MBSI Magazine, I will start collecting new individual work from clients in the US, as well as my usual trading job. ”
2. Why did you decide to start a business specializing in the repair and restoration of old-time music boxes? What was your inspiration or motivation?
“I trained as a watch repair. One day, a customer brought 15.1 / 2 “Polyphon” and asked me to “fix”. What it started with. "
3. What were your main problems / obstacles over the years? How did you get them? "
To cancel my question, I'm still trying to figure out how to get around them. My worst problem, or “obstacle”, if you like, was me. Some of the work I did was quite intense; taking it as if it were some kind of personal challenge might not have been the wisest thing. I am terribly self-taught, and I am not a good teacher, or a particularly good student. "
4. What specific types of online or offline marketing tools do you use successfully?
“I'm not sure how successful this will be, but in the early days, but I just started advertising in MBSI magazine. I do not use any online marketing tools. ”
5. Have you always assumed that you are doing what you are doing now? Was it always a passion? What did you want to be when you grow up?
"No. I was not. When I was in school, I wanted to be a train driver.
JIm will continue to give us an inner view of the world of restoring and restoring the music box in the second part of this series of articles.
I would personally like to thank Jim for taking the time to share this business with us, as well as to allow us to get a peak in the world of repairing and restoring music boxes. Jim Weir can be found at combwork@aol.com or by phone / fax at 01144-1575-572647.
Copyright 2006 Monique Hawkins
