Anyone tried Brass lacquer for gold knobs?

[Jonsheff]

I noticed the brass knobs on my Victrola 17 i restored a couple years back have become dull again. I clean them with 0000 steel wool and dawn soap. Anyone who has done this knows it can be a pain in the brass to clean them.

I have tried some Mohawk Brass Lacquer to see if it slows down or prevents oxidation. I know a lot of you collectors love petina but i myself love shiny brass and it looks better on my restored machines.

Has anyone tried this? Does it last? Since it can be easily removed with thinner i dont feel bad about doing it.

Here is a picture after spraying

[MarkELynch]

The musical instrument and antiques restorers speak highly of the Nikolas lacquers.

I’ve had a very good experience with it.

Nikolas makes a clear lacquer with a gold tint (Special Gold Colored #2105) that is very effective on gold plated items like your knobs or for brass items that you want to make look like they are gold plated. Several very thin coats 6-8 will give a very convincing 24 carat gold appearance. It is quick drying but I usually give a blast of hot air from a hair dryer to speed the cure and to remove sags. This is durable high grade industrial instrument lacquer that would be used in brass musical instruments. Trumpets get a lot of handling, far more than a Victrola knob! Let us know how it works out for you.

Here is a source:
https://votawtool.com/products/nikolas- ... 3982605447

[EarlH]

I kind of wonder if Victor didn't give some of the later knobs a thin coat of Asphaltum Varnish. I don't think they put much or anything on the earlier knobs, but the later knobs do seem to have something on them. However, if you put that varnish on thin, it has a very nice gold color to it and it really holds up well. It also dries relatively quickly in a warm place. They use it to shade gold leaf and that is also the main color used in the "Golden Oak" finishes back 100 odd years ago so it would have been around. Turpentine will wash it off and is the thinner as well. They also had a dipping lacquer that was pretty popular back then, but you just never see a sag or drip point on any of that stuff.

[Garret]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think your knobs need to be gold plated.

The knobs on the Victrola XVII weren't gold plated originally as they were on the XVI and XVIII? It wouldn't make sense for the internal parts to be gold plated and the rest of the cabinet to be left with a brass finish.

Garret

[JerryVan]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think your knobs need to be gold plated.

The knobs on the Victrola XVII weren't gold plated originally as they were on the XVI and XVIII? It wouldn't make sense for the internal parts to be gold plated and the rest of the cabinet to be left with a brass finish.

Garret

You're not wrong

[MarkELynch]

Garret, Jerry,

Yes, the evidence shows that all the gold plated parts on Victor machines, including the knobs, received some sort of protective coating. It is most obvious on the tonearm. Preserving the original gold plating and coating is always preferred but since it sounds like Jon has cleaned his knobs down to base brass I suggested using the Special Gold tinted Nikola lacquer to restore the 14 carat gold look. Done well it has a convincing gold plated appearance and will protect the brass from corrosion.

Has anyone else on this forum had experience with Nikolas lacquer?

Earl, please tell us of your experiences with Asphaltum varnish?

Mark

[Jonsheff]

I am not entirely convimced these knobs were on this 17 originally, the other 3 17s i have, have knobs with recesses circles carved into them. These knobs look more like a 16 knob. Wonder if the factory did this or the previous owner.

As for any original finish on the knobs, it was long gone before i cleaned them

Overall, i think they look pretty good, not the best but perhaps a 6 on scale of 1-10.

[MarkELynch]

Hi Jon, you are quite correct, the XVII upper and lower door knobs have a circular pattern on the front face. I checked the parts listing and found that these special knobs are used only on a few models. The smooth front knobs you have probably came from a XVI and were likely changed by a previous owner. I suspect Victor would not have made the error, anything is possible but it is more likely that they would have followed the Bill of Materials during assembly and used the knobs assigned to the work order.

See part numbers 5603GP and 5604GP (GP = gold plated)

Mark

D5CD64B7-5C22-458B-B75B-A550958D5C72.jpeg (50.55 KiB) Viewed 582 times

[Jonsheff]

Hi Jon, you are quite correct, the XVII upper and lower door knobs have a circular pattern on the front face. I checked the parts listing and found that these special knobs are used only on a few models. The smooth front knobs you have probably came from a XVI and were likely changed by a previous owner. I suspect Victor would not have made the error, anything is possible but it is more likely that they would have followed the Bill of Materials during assembly and used the knobs assigned to the work order.

See part numbers 5603GP and 5604GP (GP = gold plated)

Mark

Mark, i am impressed, very helpfull, thanks. Does the .60 indicate the original price?