FOLLOW THE RESTORATION: all that glitters is not gold...yet!

[MicaMonster]

I said before that this summer was going to be a one-two punch of restorations. And I've really left the best for last. Most if not all of you are familiar with this machine from previous posts, so I won't go into it much further. What we have here is a custom ordered Edison repeating Model D Triumph in a mahogany cabinet and gold finish, with a dealer updated carriage and a Diamond B reproducer (and I believe a dealer added Cygnet horn bracket as well!) necessitating the removal of the repeater at some point in its life. In brief, the cabinet finish is very very weak, and there are decade old glue repairs that were not done correctly. Joints glued up to ⅛" out of grain registration....SCARY STUFF. And they used what looks like Elmer's Wood Glue......

The mystery of which parts were gold plated.......is solved by inspecting each part for traces of gold. During disassembly, I found gold on the repeater gear, mandrel pulley, mandrel itself, 2/4 min combination kit clutch plate, feedscrew "L" retaining clip, pot metal bearing and on the underside of the lid tacs. Brass parts took nickel plating with ease, then the gold. Iron and steel parts need copper plating, THEN nickel, THEN gold. (or, just gold depending on the color desired). So, the list goes on and on. Just about everything was gold plated. Some parts, like the clutch plate and pulley will need to be done by hand because I don't want gold plating getting on the bearing surfaces where the parts ride on the mandrel shaft. Some parts like the wooden handle bale will need to be done in-situ, because the metal parts won't tolerate being un-bent for removal from the wooden handle.

SO? Was it GOLD PLATED, or GOLD WASH? Gold plating would certainly have held up better, being thicker and more resiliant. My feeling is that this machine received a lustrous nickel plating, then was simply given a gold wash. A "quick dip," so to say. This would explain why the gold has all but disappeared in areas where it was exposed to sunlight....air....the aromas of Aunt Mabel's pork pie dinner, and just being handled, or WIPED for that matter. The real evidence is on the bedplate UNDER the top casting, where sunlight and cotton cloths (from the high-dollar maids, no doubt) couldn't reach the gold. It is a beautiful gold wash.....I can see my reflection in it. I can see every pimple and nose hair in it. Ah.....the soul is the same, but the reflection has changed a bit.

So these two spots will dictate just how much gold the nickel plating will receive. I've seen some gold machines in my time. Some that look like they were dipped into a vat of molten gold, some that looked like $4 Krylon garage sale rattle can special, and some that were just.....painful.

To achieve the right results will require some balanced thought. Do I strip and re-do EVERYTHING and make this look like a highly polished new 2014 Jefferson nickel? Do I save the existing nickel plating, polish it up, then add the gold on top of it? Gold wash? Tank dip? Brush plate? Harmony of both? As many of you know, I like to clean machines up, and leave them with character. I do not like sterilizing a machine of its soul. I might change my mind about the finish.......I'm on the fence right now. Strip and re-do, or clean and patch-up. I have a nice mahogany Music Master Horn waiting for this machine, so that is a plus. I'll need to get an original Cygnet elbow readied for this....would need to be stripped and grain painted. So much to do. So much to do. Even the horn crane......Sitko repro, then add gold? Or, find an excellent original, polish the nickel, and then add gold. Choices. This is why it takes so long to restore Renaissance art. The issues are 1. budget, 2. judgement, 3. patience, and 4. sensibility.

I have bagged and sorted all the parts. Each part will require slightly different attention. Getting the gold tone right is going to be a challenge, and getting it to match between all the separate parts. 14k, 18k, and 24k. Light to dark. I looked up how much gold plating solution is. To quote George Takei: "OH MYYY!!!"

[alang]

I was wondering were this machine went. I'm glad and excited that we will see another amazing transformation. Can't wait. Honey get the beer and popcorn, I have to watch this

Andreas

[Garret]

Wyatt,

I am so pleased you are restoring this machine. Considering what a saga it was for this particular phonograph to arrive at your work bench, the end result will surely be worth the trouble. I look forward to seeing the progress of this restoration!

Best,

Garret

[TinfoilPhono]

This is indeed going to be fun to watch.

I'm fascinated by how thin the gold wash was. It's great to see the protected area to get an idea of what the original luster was like. I have seen some restored gold-plated machines and they have all been a bit too far over the top -- unnaturally bright and too yellow (almost certainly 24K).

10K would give a softer luster that I believe would look closer to what is shown in the protected areas. I doubt that Edison would have gone with 24K plating. Even back when gold was fixed at $32/oz. the cost of 24K plating would obviously have been double that of 10K.

[US PHONO]

A good jeweler should be able to test the gold in the square in the bedplate and tell you if its 10 or 24... just my thought so that it will be as it was.

Got my dark glasses ready as after you work your magic it will be RADIANT.

[MicaMonster]

I cleaned the grease off the bedplate and spritzed it with windex. Just wiping the gold made it lighten up. This has to be the lightest gold wash I have ever worked with. My experiment will be on the biggest piece..... The bedplate. I'll continue degreasing it with lacquer thinner. Then a dip in Evapo-Rust to dissolve the rust spotting. A polish with fine silver polish and a soft cotton cloth. Then another cleaning and buffing with cotton to remove oils from polish. Then I'll try electroplating some gold onto the original nickel. Just in a corner. This way it retains all of its original character, and hopefully won't look like a fresh refinish. We will see. I'll probably brush plate the test area. What I feel will likely be needed is to do the gold wash in a shallow plating tank.

[fran604g]

Wyatt, you're spoiling us this summer...

I've put on the coffee

Fran

[Curt A]

Just a thought... I have seen this method used quite successfully (though I have not tried it, so I would test a sample part first - but this is reversible): clean and polish the metal, remove all grease, etc. and wipe it with Amber shellac, which tends to replicate an aged gold wash or Amber lacquer toner... It can't hurt and it's removable...

[estott]

Just a thought... I have seen this method used quite successfully (though I have not tried it, so I would test a sample part first - but this is reversible): clean and polish the metal, remove all grease, etc. and wipe it with Amber shellac, which tends to replicate an aged gold wash or Amber lacquer toner... It can't hurt and it's removable...

That is how the bell linings of many silver plated brass instruments were done- a gold tone lacquer over silver plate.

[MicaMonster]

NO TINTED SHELLAC OR LAC. "The old man" wouldn't do it that way...and I ain't doing it either. I don't need to be having nightmares about receiving hastily penciled notes on recycled lined office paper like:

"Wyatt- tinted shellac is good enough for Ernie's machine, but Henry's machine should have REAL GOLD. Fix it, or you're fired. E."

Here's today's progress. The nickel plating on the top casting and bedplate is actually about 98% good. I have wiped all the oil varnish off with paper towel and lacquer thinner. For the bedplate, I covered it with paper towel and soaked it in EvapoRust. Then wrapped it in plastic so the solution wouldn't evaporate. I'll check in on it in a few hours. I hope to have nearly invisible pits in the nickel after removing the rust, which might just add authenticity to the machine after plating. The top casting got degreased, and polished with diluted silver polish. No need to remove more nickel than is absolutely necessary. Just needed to remove the rainbow patina from it. I think both parts will look scarily original when re-plated in gold wash!!!!

I removed the old pot metal mandrel bearing, and it was gold plated before installation as well, as noted from the extant plating on the concealed areas.

NOTE: The gold wash on the top casting, although nearly 100% intact and gorgeous.....wiped off with a wet paper towel. It was THAT THINLY APPLIED. No top coat, like brass instruments. This took a true gold wash. And that's what I am going to apply to it.....BUT I will make the application a little thicker and lustrous. So it will last longer than 5 Christmas dinners.

PS: I know...all my work happens on a granite countertop. It's either too hot, too humid, or too cold in my dimly lit dungeon of a workshop. If there is a grant writer out there, my wish list includes drywall, heater for winter, exhaust fan, fluorescent shop lighting, air conditioning, and a proper water closet. Oh, and a fridge to hold cold ones and phono snacks. I can just imagine the Kickstarter campaign video, it would have to be transferred to film at 16fps, then exposed onto paper stock, then re-digitized, just like the old Edison films found in the Library of Congress. I'd film 20 second long experimental titles like, "The May Irwin Itch," and "The Great Gluten Free Chocolate Cookie Robbery." It really bites when I have phono friends over, and they are like, "SO! Show me this world class workshop of yours!". And I point at a Regina Hexophone held together with wood clamps on the granite countertop, and a mahogany Opera disassembled on the the low-pile stain resistant wheat carpet in the office and say, "Um, do you really need to see the workshop NOW????"