Decca Covering Material?

[Egg_Chaser]

Have acquired a Decca 80 portable which is in fine mechanical condition but has had a bit of a tough life on the cosmetic front.

The only real solution will be to strip and re-cover the entire case, can any of you fine chaps recommend a material?
It's something like rexine I suppose but very fine. The corners and hinges are also a bit past it, although luckily the latches seem okay. I presume that the only option here is replating?

I'm in the UK.

[Mr Grumpy]

Try googling 'Tolex', It's used to re-cover guitar amplifiers and is sold in a variety of colours and grain textures. I was going to recover an old Polyphon and this material looked like the best match.

[Phono48]

A firm called Ratchfords in Stockport are reproducing the original "Rexine", in all the original grain patterns. They have a website where you can view their products, and they are extremely helpful people. They will supply as little as a yard, and despatch the same day. There are two grades, I use the thinner one for recovering my portables (as a last resort!)

Having parts replated is usually quite expensive, and is not cost-effective unless you are having lots of bits done. An alternative is to strip them down to the bare metal, and polish the steel. The purists amongst us will no doubt be horrified at this suggestion, but I have done this a number of times as a temporary measure until such time as I have amassed enough parts to justify the cost of having the lot replated.

[Egg_Chaser]

Thanks both.

Will contact Ratchfords this afternoon.