The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Just picked this Opera up. I'd like to clean up the bedplate, but don't want to chip any of the finish off or do damage. Not sure if the composition of the enamel is the same as other machines. Any Opera cleaning tips would be greatly appreciated. Also looking to very gently clean the wood.

Looks like a damp rag is all you need.
Go gently, an original finish is a one time only affair.

On the cabinet, I like to use a damp rag and Fantastik cleaner. Some folks like GoJo, (non-pumice variety), but I've never tried that.

I've said in several other posting that the best product I've found to bring a bedplate back to life is Meguiars Scratch X2.0. It is a car polish that just makes machines look great. Does not remove any of the surface just polishes. Here are a examples of a few of my machines.

Rich Gorfon

rgordon939 wrote:I've said in several other posting that the best product I've found to bring a bedplate back to life is Meguiars Scratch X2.0. It is a car polish that just makes machines look great. Does not remove any of the surface just polishes. Here are a examples of a few of my machines.

Rich Gorfon

Very nice. Worth a try.

Results look good. How do you remove existing gunk and grease before applying?

GoJo removes grease, at least it does on my black hands after working on a car. I just learned that the motor boards on Edisons are not painted with paint, but with tinted shellac. The motor board on my Edison B-150 is brown and was badly cracking. I didn't want to strip and re-paint because I would lose all the original gold directions and logos. So I bought a can of Bullseye clear shellac in a spray can and sprayed the motor board. The cracking shellac seems to be melting back down on the motor board. Great!