I was trying to remember mahogany restoration & suddenly remembered I've already fixed a small clock like this. This is a 1920 Sessions "American No. 1" eight-day clock which I bought on eBay and then got a refund on when it arrived totally destroyed. The case had come apart at the seams, the pendulum was broken, & the fly on the strike train was rather mangled. I ended up repairing it all and refinished it with alcohol. If I'd been feeling fancy I'd have mixed up some shellac & done a few coats of that--This might be what I do to freshen up the Victrola.
There are a few smudges on it from wax. I was in a hurry to go to sleep & blew out the candle a little too vigorously; didn't see the mess until next morning.
If I remember right I basically washed the clock in denatured alcohol, with the case of it completely disassembled. Rubbing it around on the surface of the parts floated the original finish off the clock, but didn't seem to hurt the grain filler or stain any. This was nice; it lightened it a shade but that was mostly the decaying shellac with a coat of contaminants that darkened it further. The clock is definitely brown, not the bright red mahogany on the Victrola.
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And David--I know you know what alcohol does to finishes. Remember being out there in the barn at half past midnight when we were working on this thing? I still wish we'd taken "before" pictures because this was almost black.
By the way, I just started figuring out stuff to do with the Searchlight horn.
As for the Victrola:
It was pretty nasty when I got it but the stain is OK.
I'd done the GoJo trick to it several times. That got off a lot of barn dirt but it didn't touch the alligatoring.
Howard's Restor-a-Finish will only get you so far (post 3 of this, with the "after" picture from 2016 showing the Victrola on display, you can see the Howard's tin on the shelf above it. That was my hammock shelf; it had a hook in it for the other end of a nylon hammock. I slept in an ENO camping hammock throughout my adolescence & sleep on the floor today.)
I coated it with Feed-and-wax a few times, I do remember that, & I remember the gloppy look wasn't particularly great. Have not bought Howard's products since; I prefer to use real furniture polish. Something about that stuff just doesn't quite seem right.
The wax and all will have to come off, before the new shellac can go on. I found the tin can of shellac which I've had ever since I got this thing, out there in the barn, and think it's best to start with fresh before I get too carried away with this.
My plan is, after I build the motor--
--clean the whole thing just like I was getting a new machine
--disassemble the case,
--wash off the old finish in denatured alcohol
--mix a fairly thin mix of shellac
--couple layers of that & then it's time for hand-rubbed polishing.
Of course I have nicks & dings to repair in it, all the carvings to clean out. Acanthus leaves look nice but trap dirt & old finish. It'll be a slow process & I might have to take a few months to do this -- I am selling a chunk of my collection, & trying to move. Already got rid of all the Aladdin kerosene lamps, a phone, and a few other things.
I also started painting my old car with Majic Brand gloss-white machine enamel, like for a tractor. It is excellent paint, but let's just say I have an excuse to go to the hardware store & get some supplies, because those paintbrushes do not cut the mustard & I am going to have to switch over to a roller.