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Interesting label that names the International Correspondence Schools, Scranton, PA. ICS was the go-to source for folks who wanted to learn a trade (hey, wanna be a locomotive engineer? Here's how!) through home study. Their textbooks make interesting reading today. Their original headquarters building still stands today in Scranton; it's been pointed out to me by a friend who's more familiar with the city than I am.

Thanks for the good feedback!

Andreas, for the decal area, I lightly brushed-on alcohol just enough for the flaking shellac to re-adhere. I followed-up by adding 1 or 2 thinned coats of clear shellac to give a working surface. I used Testors hobby enamel for the gold and black colors with the smallest brush I could find. I did the gold first, using little bits of blue masking tape to keep me from straying too far. After that was dry, I re-did the tape and drew-in the missing black lines. It was less like painting as it was like stippling with very tiny dots of paint. I used a real strong lamp and a #5 Optivisor magnifier. (I can't stress enough how important it was to have the Optivisor to do this.) I tried to even-out the difference in the gold tones by selectively dabbing-on amber shellac. Anyway, after I got it looking as good as I could, I followed up with many coats of clear shellac (with sanding every 3rd or 4th coat) to give the decal some protection and to fill in the low spots of the finish.

This one was a 4 to 6 week process with lots of cure time between coats. The Model D was in better condition and was more like 2 to 3 weeks with cure time.

-Martin

Thanks Martin for the detailed instructions.
Andreas

Alcohol restores my finish, too. One part dry vermouth to 12 parts gin; apply as needed....

Henry wrote:Alcohol restores my finish, too. One part dry vermouth to 12 parts gin; apply as needed....

Hey, I like your formula!

Clay

If you use it, you'll like anything!

Of course, you can always omit the vermouth....but not the olive.

Since the photos disappeared due to the hosting service going kaput (and since there has been a request), here are the photos re-instated:

Post by martinola » Mon Feb 06, 2012 11:43 pm
Hi Clay.
My take on re-amalgamation is that it's worth a try if you don't mind being patient and are willing to experiment. I just finished a re-amalgamation of my Standard Model D that was rather rough and had bad flaking on the lid, back and crank side. The thing is that simply re-flowing a trashed finish isn't usually enough. I've had to add coat after coat of clear shellac in order to "level out" the finish. There's a lot of time that goes into touch-up color matching, filling in low spots, sanding and polishing. The result is essentially the original color and (I think) better than a re-finish.

Std D before side view

Std D after side view

Std D wide after front

Below are some shots of an earlier re-amalgamation/restoration of my Standard Model C ICS machine. My main goal on this one was to save the decal.

Std C finish and decal before

Std C decal after

Std C wide after

Anyhow, whatever you do decide to do; good luck!

- Martin

Beautiful work!
How did you not remove the decal?
Were the decals applied first at the factory, then shellacked over?

Did you touch up the decal by hand? If so, that is excellent work!

- Bill

Henry wrote: ↑Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:16 am Interesting label that names the International Correspondence Schools, Scranton, PA. ICS was the go-to source for folks who wanted to learn a trade (hey, wanna be a locomotive engineer? Here's how!) through home study. Their textbooks make interesting reading today. Their original headquarters building still stands today in Scranton; it's been pointed out to me by a friend who's more familiar with the city than I am.

There was also their other branch, the International Textbook Co. (ITC), also in Scranton: my Standard B has their label.

- Bill