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

[gramophone78]

[MicaMonster]

I'm feeling weak at the knees.......

For those of you keeping score, I have 15 hours in the machine so far.

[TinfoilPhono]

That is STUNNING, Wyatt! Wow. I've used brush plating a lot with nickel, but never for pieces so large. I can only imagine how much work it takes to do that and keep the coverage even.

[alang]

WOW! That looks great! And not great like brand new, but more like "I can't believe it survived over 100 tears in such great condition" great. I cannot wait for seeing it back assembled in all it's glory. Thanks for sharing this amazing transformation with us!
Andreas

[stevenhman]

Wow! Very nice. I like how it's not... too much. I saw a modern-plated Opera and it was a bit jarringly gold plated. This is making me want to nickel plate a rescue standard

[wjw]

Jeez, you brush gold better than I brush shellac!


bill

[Lucius1958]

That is beautiful work!

Bill

[Panatropia]

Absolutely fantabulous! Amazing what a trained hand, focused mind and a wonderful set of skills can accomplish. Cheers!

[FloridaClay]

Wyatt, for those of us uninitiated in the process, could you say a bit about what brush plating is, how it works, and where you get the supplies?

Clay

[MicaMonster]

You might get a better idea of brush plating by googling the term and watching a few YouTube videos. Caswell and Texas Plating Supply make two nice kits. Pricey though.

Here is more progress. Spent a few hours on the 2/4 minute kit and small pieces. I put lacquer on the crank, as it would be a part that would be handled more, as well as the cygnet bracket. The remaining parts of the machine I have left un lacquered, only wiping them with non-abrasive OZ polish, just to protect them from fingerprints. I left stuff bare because the lacquer adds shine where I don't want it. Also, leaving the parts bare makes it easy for minor touch ups in the distant future, if needed at all. The lid plates were very rusty. Soaked them in Evap-O-Rust, and they look lovely. Will fill in missing gold on them tomorrow. Greased and oiled up motor....runs silky smooth with new belt. I really feel that the mechanism looks like a nice original "as-found" piece.