What does the pot metal tone arm look like?

I am going tomorrow to possibly but my 1st Victrola. I have been told to avoid the players with the "Pot Metal" tone arms due to being expensive to replace and such. But, I do not know what a pot metal arm looks like......Can someone help me out?????

"Google" pot metal Ron Rich

Adding to this topic I'll mention that the earlier Victrolas up to the 1924-1925 period has brass tonearms that were either nickled or goldplated. It's the tonearm brackets that were of pot metal, & will sometimes crack or break apart.The reproducers were not made of pot metal on these. The "Orthophonic" Victrolas made from 1925 DID have mostly pot metal reproducers, which can crack & break apart. I have a 1926 Credenza that had to have a rebuild on this part. Some of the earliest "Orthophonic" reproducers were of brass, & don't break apart-but they are rarer & more expensive to get ahold of. Again the tonearms were nickeled or goldplated brass, & again the tonearm brackets were of pot metal-same breakage problem.

dennman6 wrote:Adding to this topic I'll mention that the earlier Victrolas up to the 1924-1925 period has brass tonearms that were either nickled or goldplated. It's the tonearm brackets that were of pot metal, & will sometimes crack or break apart.The reproducers were not made of pot metal on these. The "Orthophonic" Victrolas made from 1925 DID have mostly pot metal reproducers, which can crack & break apart. I have a 1926 Credenza that had to have a rebuild on this part. Some of the earliest "Orthophonic" reproducers were of brass, & don't break apart-but they are rarer & more expensive to get ahold of. Again the tonearms were nickeled or goldplated brass, & again the tonearm brackets were of pot metal-same breakage problem.

That is certainly true, and I would be cautious to look for any kind of past repair jobs done to the pot metal parts before committing and buying the Victrola. But don't let the fact that it has pot metal steer you away from it entirely...I have a 1927 Orthophonic with a pot metal reproducer and tonearm bracket and it's fully intact and works and sounds fine to this day. Never had to have been rebuilt or fixed at any point in its existence.

So if the Victrola happens to have pot metal but it is in excellent condition, imho that shouldn't be a dealbreaker. But, seeing as how my case is probably the exception rather than the rule to these old Orthos, if it needs work or is starting to get hairline cracks, I would say avoid it and move it. Even though true Victor Orthos were only around for four years, there are still plenty of them around that you can afford to pass on the really damaged ones.