Amberola finish Shellac?

[MidMich]

I have 2 ½ Amberola cabinets that need to be redone. One was stored in a chicken coop and the wood was dirty and dark, it was a dark oak finish. I used SCJohson paste waste (old stuff in the yellow tub) on a rag and it cleaned up pretty good. Most of the original shellac is gone. I did apply a bit of alcohol to what was left and it softened up enough to be rubbed off with a rag. The other one is a older cleaning, it is the golden oak finish and does not have a shellac finish. I appears to have just had oil or wax applied. The first one's center section has missing veneer, but I have a good center section to replace it with. The plan is to take them all apart, strip the finish(shellac) and leave the stain using alcohol to remove what is left of the shellac and mineral spirits to remove any wax. I have a couple of small spots where the veneers is lifting and I plan to use "Old Brown Glue" brand of liquid hide glue for these. Once cleaned up the next plan is to re coat using either clear or amber shellac.
I talked to a old gentleman at the Wood Crafters store who knew his stuff and he said the prior to 1920 it should be shellac 1920 to 1930 could be shellac or lacquer and after 1930 the odds are it is lacquer. Any one else have any experience doing this. I have two Triumph 500 motor on the bench now and as soon as they are done the Amberola projects are up.
Jeff Klender

[MidMich]

I was just reading one of Ronold Dethleson's books "Blue Amberola Recordings 1912-1929". One of the Amberola cases that I have is a golden oak and the other is a darker oak finish. It turns out that the darker oak is the Fumed finish. I was not familiar with this process until I looked it up. Very simple to do. Here is a link to a short video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gXJ0-7Ibv8
Jeff

[larryh]

I have used Shellac on many phonographs, both to totally redo in the case of a destroyed finish or to simply bring an old but slightly beat up finish to acceptable restoration. Shellac is simple but tricky to use. I wouldn't go at using it on a valuable item till you test applying some onto another piece of wood. Of course if you do start with the phonograph and it gets screwed up then you can always wash it back off with denatured alcohol. If I were you I would go to You Tube and watch some videos on applying Shellac. That would give you some visual knowledge of how to handle it. My old Furniture Doctor book is where I first learned about how to apply it. First you can't just use it out of the can, its too thick and will set up in ridges from the brush quite quickly. Its suggested to cut it in half by using denatured alcohol in even amounts to Shellac. You need to have a very fine brush designed for applying fine finishes. They cost a bit more but are worth it in the way they lay the product down more evenly. You also must clean them throughly after each use or the will be ruined. If I am saving an original finish I do like you, clean off all the old wax with mineral spirits. If the finish is rough I sand it lightly with fine sandpaper to level it up some. If its really still rough then sometimes I use a quick coat of only denatured alcohol brushing in one direction and leaving it to dry, that will bring the old finish back to life some but won't work if a lot of it is missing or badly flaking. If is the finish is still reasonable smooth I then put on the thinned layers working only on the surfaces that are leveled. I wait till the coat I put on one part is dry before attempting to turn it. That might take a day if the weather is humid so don't rush it even if it feels dry right away with it will. It can still mark easily from laying on anything like a blanket or towel. When you put the Shellac on work from one side to the other brushing smoothly but quickly and use a bright light shinning on it to be sure your not missing places which is very easy to do. If you do you simply will have to put another coat on over it. You don't want to start your full brush in a corner or against any trim woods as it will be too thick and tend to make wavy looking finish, brush it out quickly to the center then go to the edges with a less full brush, be careful to brush out from the center on edges when the finish can run down the side because it will. After its dried and coated totally it will be mirror like shiny. You don't want that, you will need to use either some 0000 steel wool pads lightly rubbed evenly with the grain, or some rotten stone and a bit of baby oil to knock that shiny finish down to look more like furniture and the wood will look deeper and not so artificially shiny. Again read up on it online or in books and watch some videos for tricks of applying it. It can be a great tool to use.

I forgot to mention that on a bare wood like when you remove all the finish it will take up to 8 coats thinned down to at least half or a bit more of denatured alcohol to build up that deep looking finish the original cabinets had. Sand very lightly between coats and vacuum any dust off it or it will end up in the finish.

I have used lacquer that you brush on from a can on my later William and Mary Edison Console. It was fairly easy to apply but it seems to mar from things simply sitting on it. I don't know why that is?

Good Luck

[MidMich]

Thank you for the good advice.
For the Amberola 30 project, the original cabinet is missing the two front boards above the grill and lots of veneer on the side. I was able to pick up a matching center section in great shape. The shellac on both is mostly worn off or missing. The dark oak stain after cleaning is in good shape, I just used SCJohnson paste was with an old sock and all of it cleaned up. In the process of picking up parts, I was able to get a complete cabinet in the Golden Oak finish. It is in great condition, except someone before me had removed the shellac. It feels slightly damp to me, but the previous owner told me that it is dry and was stored dry. I suspect that it has been oiled.
I plan on cleaning all parts, carefully remove what is left of the shellac and oil using Mineral spirits and then I can play with the bad center section using the shellac. I have both amber and clear shellac and I want to see which one or what combination gives me the best finish. I picked up a copy of the latest edition of the Furniture Doctor by George Grotz, lots of good information here. Hopefully today I can make some progress making room on the work bench.
I have picked up a lot of spare parts for this project, Complete 50 and 30 motors etc. I just got in a 30 horn in good condition cheap. Only problem is it is bigger then the one I have, the Ebay seller did not know the difference between a 30 and 50 horns. Oh well more parts for a later project.
Jeff