RESTORATION DIARY - EDISON HOME - Model A #99667
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:55 pm
As some of you may (or not) know, I'm helping Ronnie Johnson (our own "Amberola") restore his Green Oak Model A Home. Ronnie is going to do the mechanical restoration, and I'm going to tackle the Case. In previous Restoration Diaries I've waited until the machine is done before I show it to you. I do that to fool you into thinking that I know what I'm doing.
However in this case, I'll be posting the progress here in irregular intervals. That way Ronnie can see what I'm up to and he can post his progress on the mechanical portion. Hopefully when we're done here, Ronnie will have a spiffy Home Model A, I'll have learned a thing or two, and you won't have clawed your eyeballs out.
THE "BEFORE" STUFF:
The patient is an Edison Home Model A in the long Green Oak case. It has the 2&4 minute attachment with the lever type speed shift. The model H reproducer still has the green shellac coating so we can easily see that it is for Amberol records.
Case as found.
Bedplate & topworks as found.
I don't know if this was literally an "attic find", but it sure has been in long storage where it has seen many layers of dirt. The green color has faded unevenly either to exposure to light or heat or something chemical perhaps? The poor Banner transfer has undergone changes not for the good. The background detail is all but gone. The whole transfer is starting to flake and the dirt seems to have had a somewhat corrosive effect. The wood bedplate frame is broken at the back and the glue seems to have dried and fallen out of the rest of the joints.
Damage on left side. Note the splinters inside the case.
The baseboards on all of the model A and B machines seem to be prone to splitting and warping. This machine is no exception.
Upon close inspection there are two sets of corrugated joint fasteners.
(Second time is the charm...)
Has anybody else run across this? Was this original or was it an early attempt to keep the bottom from splitting? Any comments would be helpful. I really don't know much about the Home cases.
DUE DILIGENCE:
I had hopes of merely cleaning up the finish. Perhaps re-amalgamating the shellac and possibly adding some of the green back as layers of green shellac. To try it out for size, I used 0000 steel wool, mineral spirits (paint thinner) and paper towels to remove the top layer of grime. The lid ended up looking pretty good.
Working on the left side.
The case wasn't so bad except that even with the gentlest treatment, the banner got worse. On the lower left of the case the color change was the most extreme - going very red. For a preview of what it would look like with new shellac, I did a quick wipe-down with mineral spirits.
Better. By no means perfect.
Too Bad.
Unfortunately, the Banner is done for. The Banner is a dominant visual feature of the machine. Now, if this was a super-rare machine we'd probably be waxing it and calling it good. However Homes are relatively plentiful and we are fortunate enough to have talented people like Gregg Cline - so there is no reason not to replace the distressed Banner with a good reproduction.
The problem then becomes striking a visual balance between the new Banner and the tired and discolored finish. I am especially thinking of the darkish-red areas that look almost as if they were scorched. If it were mine and I had tons of money and time, I might take a shot at just replacing the Banner. I've seen it done on other machines and I've never liked how it ends up looking. After conferring with Ronnie, we're going to go ahead and do an all-new Green Oak finish. (To Be Continued...)
However in this case, I'll be posting the progress here in irregular intervals. That way Ronnie can see what I'm up to and he can post his progress on the mechanical portion. Hopefully when we're done here, Ronnie will have a spiffy Home Model A, I'll have learned a thing or two, and you won't have clawed your eyeballs out.
THE "BEFORE" STUFF:
The patient is an Edison Home Model A in the long Green Oak case. It has the 2&4 minute attachment with the lever type speed shift. The model H reproducer still has the green shellac coating so we can easily see that it is for Amberol records.
I don't know if this was literally an "attic find", but it sure has been in long storage where it has seen many layers of dirt. The green color has faded unevenly either to exposure to light or heat or something chemical perhaps? The poor Banner transfer has undergone changes not for the good. The background detail is all but gone. The whole transfer is starting to flake and the dirt seems to have had a somewhat corrosive effect. The wood bedplate frame is broken at the back and the glue seems to have dried and fallen out of the rest of the joints.
- Bedplt_frm_dmg_L.jpg (345.3 KiB) Viewed 3337 times
The baseboards on all of the model A and B machines seem to be prone to splitting and warping. This machine is no exception.
- Base_warp_split.jpg (428.64 KiB) Viewed 3337 times
- split_mender_2.jpg (330.72 KiB) Viewed 3337 times
Has anybody else run across this? Was this original or was it an early attempt to keep the bottom from splitting? Any comments would be helpful. I really don't know much about the Home cases.
DUE DILIGENCE:
I had hopes of merely cleaning up the finish. Perhaps re-amalgamating the shellac and possibly adding some of the green back as layers of green shellac. To try it out for size, I used 0000 steel wool, mineral spirits (paint thinner) and paper towels to remove the top layer of grime. The lid ended up looking pretty good.
- lid_left_clean.jpg (394.71 KiB) Viewed 3337 times
The case wasn't so bad except that even with the gentlest treatment, the banner got worse. On the lower left of the case the color change was the most extreme - going very red. For a preview of what it would look like with new shellac, I did a quick wipe-down with mineral spirits.
- wet_grain_detail_CU.jpg (490.94 KiB) Viewed 3337 times
- decal_detail.jpg (527.26 KiB) Viewed 3337 times
Unfortunately, the Banner is done for. The Banner is a dominant visual feature of the machine. Now, if this was a super-rare machine we'd probably be waxing it and calling it good. However Homes are relatively plentiful and we are fortunate enough to have talented people like Gregg Cline - so there is no reason not to replace the distressed Banner with a good reproduction.
The problem then becomes striking a visual balance between the new Banner and the tired and discolored finish. I am especially thinking of the darkish-red areas that look almost as if they were scorched. If it were mine and I had tons of money and time, I might take a shot at just replacing the Banner. I've seen it done on other machines and I've never liked how it ends up looking. After conferring with Ronnie, we're going to go ahead and do an all-new Green Oak finish. (To Be Continued...)
I am grateful you turned us on to the wax. It really does work.