Cleaning Edison bed plates

[jboger]

I just bought a very dilapidated Edison Home Phonograph. I've taken care of the wood; it's the bedplate that now concerns me. I did a search but mostly found info on wood cleaning. I'm sure the information for cleaning the bedplate is here somewhere,but sorry I did not find it. So I consulted my copy of The Compleat Talking Machine. Sure enough Reiss has information on cleaning bedplates. He recommends soap and water.

A previous experiment with one of the first machines I bought taught me a good lesson: Edison coated the bedplates with either a lacquer or shellac, I believe shellac. Shellac doesn't like water. so before I immerse my bed plate in soapy water, will this work without making the surface permanently dull and cloudy? Or is there something else people have successfully used?

[phonogfp]

I've had good results using denatured alcohol to remove bad shellac from Edison bed plates and upper works. If the paint/decorations are in good shape, I'll use Mcguire's Scratch X 2.0, followed by Johnson's paste wax.

George P.

[rgordon939]

I don’t recommend denatured alcohol as it will remove the pin-striping. I would recommend Gojo original hand cleaner first to remove the grime then McGuire’s Scratch X 2.0 to polish the finish.

Rich Gordon

[phonogfp]

Rich makes an important distinction. For "dilapidated" bed plate/upper works - meaning little or no decorations present, I've had good results using denatured alcohol to remove bad shellac. If the paint/decorations are in good shape, I'll use Goop/GoJo to clean, followed by Mcguire's Scratch X 2.0, followed by Johnson's paste wax.

George P.

[jboger]

Thank you, both. There is sufficient pinstriping left, so I will go-go with the GoJo. I'll try a test spot first.

[phonogfp]

You shouldn't need to worry about GoJo. For particularly cruddy bed plates, I've left it on overnight with no loss of decorations.

George P.