Polish Or Not To Polish??.

[Valecnik]

The only horns in my collection that are polished are the ones that came to me that way.

I prefer my phonos like me, not at all polished, a little bit dull but occasionally well oiled.

[doublemike]

Ok, friends! Thanks to all!

After this sort of 'brainstorming' I've learned that:
a) polishing doesn't damage horns, and I didn't know. Good.
b) antiques could be more attractive if we let them show their real age
c) "restoring concept" includes both mechanics and external elements, so it appears reasonable polish horns, too
d) every collector has an unique neuronal map and has a unique, personal opinion

For the moment, I mainly agree with "b" point... however, this discussion is very interesting.

[phonogfp]

Here's a horn I polished by hand 5 years ago. It looks shinier in the photo than it does in real life. When it was freshly polished, I could have shaved in my reflection. Now I couldn't even recognize myself!

George P.

[gramophone78]

Here's a horn I polished by hand 5 years ago. It looks shinier in the photo than it does in real life. When it was freshly polished, I could have shaved in my reflection. Now I couldn't even recognize myself!

George P.

I'm trying to think of a way I can get you to "hand polish" some of my horns or even just dust them. That would sure make my Wife happy... . Here is an example of a Canadian Berliner TM all nickel horn. This horn was never coated with lacquer (no need) and yet I will not touch this patina. Another example....a no brainer in my eyes is a all brass horn that still retains it's original lacquer and has a very nice golden glow to it after a 100+ years. I would never think to clean it back to a new shinny finish. However, that's me.

[MTPhono]

I'm with George on this topic. If the machine is near mint, the horn should be too. I love shiny brass and nickle horns - they are beautiful and the way they were sold and meant to look. For the first several years I am certain the original owners would have attempted to keep the horns looking new. I don't understand the need to retain oxidation!

Wayne, why wouldn't you clean the nickle horn? What is the value in not cleaning it? I wouldn't touch the brass horn either - it looks awesome.

[gramophone78]

I'm with George on this topic. If the machine is near mint, the horn should be too. I love shiny brass and nickle horns - they are beautiful and the way they were sold and meant to look. For the first several years I am certain the original owners would have attempted to keep the horns looking new. I don't understand the need to retain oxidation!

Wayne, why wouldn't you clean the nickle horn? What is the value in not cleaning it? I wouldn't touch the brass horn either - it looks awesome.

Scott, should I tell the truth and just blame it on just being lazy???..... . I think it's a personal thing. Using my machine with the nickel horn as the example......I prefer to leave all the machines nickel untouched because I find the nickel plate on Berliner's to be fairly thin. So, I would hate to find I have made a wear spot somewhere. The spring barrel on Berliner's can be problematic. A lot have the nickel in a state of lifting or peeling. Therefore, in order to keep the consistency of the over all appearance, I feel it's better to leave it as it is. Otherwise, you will have a shinny horn on a not so shinny machine.
Last, because Berliner choose to use a steel horn to nickel plate, there are also areas of slight peeling and or lifting. I guess it all boils down to caution.

[MTPhono]

That makes complete sense. I think I am basing my experience more on European aluminum horns than nickeled horns. Nearly every aluminum horn I get is pitted and nasty. most need to have dents removed too so I almost always polish them at that point. The difference is amazing.

[FloridaClay]

Here's a horn I polished by hand 5 years ago. It looks shinier in the photo than it does in real life. When it was freshly polished, I could have shaved in my reflection. Now I couldn't even recognize myself!

George P.

Now that is a patina I love!

Clay

[mrphonograph]

That makes complete sense. I think I am basing my experience more on European aluminum horns than nickeled horns. Nearly every aluminum horn I get is pitted and nasty. most need to have dents removed too so I almost always polish them at that point. The difference is amazing.

i am from europe and yes they can be nasty for quite some years you can get repro's of aluminium horns and these are worse they have a very rough finish and they are not shiny like the original ones
what i do with all of those is polish the heck out of them till my arms nearly fall off!!

can you see wich Pathé machine has a repro horn

oh yea sory for the g&t horn but since i don't have the original concert soun box i see it as incomplete and i wont polish untill complete

tino

[Steve]

My policy is simple. If the horn comes to me very dull, tarnished and dirty I give it a very good clean and polish it up like new! If it looks good already without being polished then I might just leave it be. Some horns I have had over 20 years are now starting to dull again so out comes the polish. It's not an obsessive thing - they certainly aren't being polished every day, week, month or even year!

I ALWAYS polish bare brass horns though. They were meant to look that way and so-called patina and age, depending on your atmospheric conditions, can be achieved within a few years - that's hardly 100 years of waiting so in my opinion you are losing nothing by making them look good.