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Hijack away! I'll take any education I can get!

m0xiemama wrote:

Uncle Vanya wrote:That finish should be a dull waxed finish, in the manner of Gustav Stickley Arts and Crafts furniture.

It is your machine, of course, and you are eminently entitled to do with it as you wish, but making the machine shiny so that the gold tones "pop" would be a desecration akin to stripping it and finishing it in "Formsby"s Golden Oak".

I did not mean I was planning on making it shiny. I was speaking only of the results of cleaning it.

Now, cleaning such a finish can be tricky. Mild is better! A mixture of a cup of vinegar with a tablespoon or two of turpentine (smells better than mineral spirits, and these days is cheaper!) applied VERY SPARINGLY with soft, lint-free cloths will do a nice job. GoJo works well on many finishes, but it can damage a wax finish, as can the heavy application of most solvents. Even when cleaning gently, note that much of the "dirt" coming off on your rag will actually be colored finishing wax, and so be careful. Your finish can then be brought to life by again waxing. In the case of the finish on your machine, Kiwi black PASTE shoe polish, applied well into the grain and buffed off with a soft brush, will quite effectively restore it to something approaching its original appearance. Don't buff too hard with a rag, or you can bring up an unnatural gloss.

The above methods will work well with most wax-finished furniture. I've used it quite successfully on Ellis period Stickley pieces, which later went to market and were well-received by rather fussy West Coast collectors.

Please follow Uncle V's advice. Go easy and check results with the color under the lid. Some of these dark oak finishes seem to almost wipe away with too strong a solvent and especially an abrasive pad!

Thank you, that was very helpful!

Thank you, that was very helpful!

Great advice from Uncle Vanya! Would that I'd known all of that a few years sooner....

I bought a Victrola X from a phono collector who assured me it was housed in the unusual "English Oak" cabinet. When I saw it in person, it sure looked darker than the English Oak samples shown in the books. It had been stored in a basement for years before he got it, and I assumed (erroneously) that it was coated by years of accumulated grime from a smokey oil or coal fired boiler. I had to reglue lots of warped veneer and all 4 corners of the lid, and replace part of a back leg but then got busy with the Gojo cleaning. Sure seemed awfully dirty, had to use multiple passes of the Gojo, but I got down to a very thin finish (which was likely a spit coat to seal the wood before the original wax finish was applied). The front and the interior were still mighty dark, but the sides were more like a fumed oak with a thin finish. It was then that I sensed that I had gone a bit too far, but the damage was done. I waxed the cabinet with a non-tinted wax to protect it, and got it way too shiny along the way. So-----one of these days, I'll have to reverse the damage done, chalk this up to the mistakes we make as part of the learning process, and be a little less obsessed by cleanliness next time around....

m0xiemama wrote:Here it is.

This is All Original I use to have this same exact one I would just Murphys Oil Soap and clean cotton cloths to clean the wood nothing else just try to get some original door knobs
awesome cabinet.

For future reference, here's what Fumed Oak looks like. Note the original shipping crate is marked "Fu. O. 11" (meaning a Fumed Oak VV-XI) along with the serial number. I shot the interior surfaces for untouched finish. Unfortunately, the light at my friend's house is not optimal, so I shot with and without flash. However, the flash didn't alter the color as far as I could discern.

Hope this is helpful - -

George P.

George, I think that is wonderful to show what "real" fumed oak looks like. I had thought to post a piece of Stickley as an example. It's amazing how people seem to get confused with "old english", "weathered" and even "waxed" oak with "fumed".
It truly has a look all it's own and is next to impossible to repair.....

edisonrestorer64 wrote:

m0xiemama wrote:Here it is.

This is All Original I use to have this same exact one I would just Murphys Oil Soap and clean cotton cloths to clean the wood nothing else just try to get some original door knobs
awesome cabinet.

It just looks a lot darker and more grey on the inside than the out. I wonder if it has been too vigorously cleaned at some point. Yes, I an sure I can dig up some knobs on ebay and I need a caster but otherwise it is pretty solid.