The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Doing a rebuild on a 1918 VV-XI table top unit yesterday i ran into some sort of film that soaking in mineral spirits wouldnt remove. It looks like it was sprayed on all the moving parts, the break was covered in it, the tone arm bearings, etc. Had to scrape it off with steel wool and a knif for the thick spots. It looks like a dried up libricant of some sort. Any ideas on what might dissolve it without damaging the plating? Here is a hinge with it on it, the brown area

The first thing I use on what I think is mineral based gunk is a rather evil product called Castrol Super Clean. Same stuff is sold in Wal Mart as Purple Power. Have cleaned phonograph motors and degreased lawn mowers with this stuff. Never cleaned nickel plating with it though.
If the weather is good I go to my rotten picnic table with a bucket, latex gloves, toothbrush and gasoline. Works fast and doesn't harm the plating!

- bill

I think that stuff is just a combination of old household oils (3 in One, Early Bird, etc.) mixed in with metal polishes of old and a helping of genuine antique dust.

To remove it, I try to avoid scraping and stick to 0000 steel wool and kerosene or 0000 and Kroil. Both of those work nice but the Kroil smells nicer, of course. Kerosene has a scent of its own, let's just say.

wjw wrote:The first thing I use on what I think is mineral based gunk is a rather evil product called Castrol Super Clean. Same stuff is sold in Wal Mart as Purple Power. Have cleaned phonograph motors and degreased lawn mowers with this stuff. Never cleaned nickel plating with it though.
If the weather is good I go to my rotten picnic table with a bucket, latex gloves, toothbrush and gasoline. Works fast and doesn't harm the plating!

- bill

Yeah... do NOT get that stuff on your hands.. or in a day or 2 you'll have the dryest hands you'll ever want to have.

For a small part like that, I'd try lighter fluid---naphtha--like Ronsonol or Zippo. It won't harm the plating, and is a very powerful degreaser. It's also highly volatile, so use care. Apply stuff and wipe with paper towel or Scotchbrite cleaning pad. Repeat as necessary.

For a mild degreaser I use Mineral Spirits or Paint Thinner. For more powerful degreaser and resin softener, I use Lacquer Thinner. All of those are volatile, so I always use them in well ventilated areas away from open flames. Lacquer thinner will dissolve many plastics, paints and hardened oils/greases. The method I use is to soak the part over night, and by morning the non-metallic materials are usually soft, or even dissolved. Non of those will attack the metal. Cheers, Russie