Re: A speartip Victor horn in need of help
Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 6:32 am
The horn is definitely mahogany as martinola has already suggested. It is only veneer and would have had that very dark red shellac finish applied to it originally. In some areas it has been rubbed off / faded. The horn is a UK horn but the decal has been quickly slapped over the US logo. These are the same identical horns as the Victor type because HMV only imported them from Victor in the first place, sans finish, and then applied the finish and decals itself.
Maybe HMV was running low on stock and had to accept pre-finished Victor horns to keep up with demand at some point? I have seen HMV decals slapped on over Victor decals like this before. It's nothing unusual.
Is the cabinet really walnut? I suspect it is also mahogany and has been stripped back and refinished long long ago as others have suggested. It has been badly bleached by daylight. I have a dark red mahogany HMV horn machine where one corner of the motor-board is almost this same light color through wear and tear / acidic fingers grabbing it whilst winding it up.
What should you do with the horn? I agree with others: do not strip the inside down and refinish it as it actually appears to be quite good and salvageable. This mahogany stain / shellac finish can be brought back to a fairly decent shine with deep red colour with a little work. I actually find Brasso is great for buffing tired looking shellac. I only use a soft cloth to apply it with a little white spirit (not meths!) and let the Brasso act as the abrasive rubbing compound. I once had a horn that looked identical on the inside. After a whole morning using nothing but cloths and Brasso it looked amazing again with deep shiny surface and all the grain was visible again. Admittedly you have to work hard to remove the white chalky deposits that dry in the grain. But I use neat white spirit for that and then something like Topps Scratch Cover to add a little zest back into the colour and finish. Once dried you can buff it all day long with a clean dry cloth. It works but be patient; the rewards are not instantaneous.
As for the outside of the horn, that's a different story. I'd polish the inside and then see how you feel about the outside based entirely on the shining original appearance of the inside. You will not remove the alligatoring of the finish without attempting to dissolve it! I would NOT attempt this, to be honest. We refer to this as "crazing" on this side of the pond and it is perfectly acceptable and normal to see on old shellac surfaces. If you can buff the shine back into the surface as I've suggested, the alligatoring becomes far less prominent and is quite acceptable to most eyes.
I doubt Gojo and Kotton Kleanser will touch this problem to be honest as the reason for the dullness is not dirt alone. It is degradation and oxidation of the surface of the shellac caused by heat and light exposure. This causes tiny fissures in the surface and "crazing" leading to less light reflection off the surface. You will therefore need to attack the surface vigorously but not with anything that will dissolve and weaken it. You are simply trying to wear off the uppermost few microns of UV damaged surface to permit the light to both pass through and be reflected back off the surface. The transparency of the shellac achievable by careful use of a rubbing compound, will also allow you to see all the grain again.
Maybe HMV was running low on stock and had to accept pre-finished Victor horns to keep up with demand at some point? I have seen HMV decals slapped on over Victor decals like this before. It's nothing unusual.
Is the cabinet really walnut? I suspect it is also mahogany and has been stripped back and refinished long long ago as others have suggested. It has been badly bleached by daylight. I have a dark red mahogany HMV horn machine where one corner of the motor-board is almost this same light color through wear and tear / acidic fingers grabbing it whilst winding it up.
What should you do with the horn? I agree with others: do not strip the inside down and refinish it as it actually appears to be quite good and salvageable. This mahogany stain / shellac finish can be brought back to a fairly decent shine with deep red colour with a little work. I actually find Brasso is great for buffing tired looking shellac. I only use a soft cloth to apply it with a little white spirit (not meths!) and let the Brasso act as the abrasive rubbing compound. I once had a horn that looked identical on the inside. After a whole morning using nothing but cloths and Brasso it looked amazing again with deep shiny surface and all the grain was visible again. Admittedly you have to work hard to remove the white chalky deposits that dry in the grain. But I use neat white spirit for that and then something like Topps Scratch Cover to add a little zest back into the colour and finish. Once dried you can buff it all day long with a clean dry cloth. It works but be patient; the rewards are not instantaneous.
As for the outside of the horn, that's a different story. I'd polish the inside and then see how you feel about the outside based entirely on the shining original appearance of the inside. You will not remove the alligatoring of the finish without attempting to dissolve it! I would NOT attempt this, to be honest. We refer to this as "crazing" on this side of the pond and it is perfectly acceptable and normal to see on old shellac surfaces. If you can buff the shine back into the surface as I've suggested, the alligatoring becomes far less prominent and is quite acceptable to most eyes.
I doubt Gojo and Kotton Kleanser will touch this problem to be honest as the reason for the dullness is not dirt alone. It is degradation and oxidation of the surface of the shellac caused by heat and light exposure. This causes tiny fissures in the surface and "crazing" leading to less light reflection off the surface. You will therefore need to attack the surface vigorously but not with anything that will dissolve and weaken it. You are simply trying to wear off the uppermost few microns of UV damaged surface to permit the light to both pass through and be reflected back off the surface. The transparency of the shellac achievable by careful use of a rubbing compound, will also allow you to see all the grain again.