Edison green oak finish

[Jerry B.]

One thing that has not been mentioned is the environmental conditions any particular machine has been exposed to over the last 120 or so years. Two machines from the same days greening process could look entirely different today even if they've had reasonably good care but used if different parts of the country with different environmental conditions. It might be as simple as one sat in the sun and the other away from UV light. Just a thought...

Jerry B.

[eighteenbelow]

Thanks, everyone. Here are some more pictures of both machines. The first one is of the two lids; the green one is in the foreground. Then There are some closeup pictures of the green case, followed by the other case. I hope this helps you all continue to formulate theories. I will say that the lid of the not-green machine does appear to have some faint green on the outside, though as you can see, there is none on the inside. Again, I can say for certain that these machines are all original, each having been in the same family since purchased new; and that the non-green machine's serial number is about 50,000 less than the green one's. Any theories/explanations?

[martinola]

I see traces of green on the inside of the bottom "not green" lid. Looking at the extreme right of the bedplate frame of the "green" machine, an exposed wear mark is reddish that looks like the finish of the "not green" machine. I'd say that what you are seeing is the extreme difference between what we see today as a green oak finish. Staining intensity always varies in the finish process to one extent or other. Start with a light green oak finish, combine that with 120 years of UV light fading, pollutants, cleaners, Howard's Restore-a-finish (?) etc., and some machines will go that reddish color.