Brunswick Cortez Finish Issues...

[RAK402]

I have owned a Brunswick Cortez for about eight years now.

It is my favorite phonograph.

I notice that the finish is starting to check/crack along the grain on the lid and on the sides.

Is there anything that I can do to correct this or slow it down?

Thank you all in advance.

[AZ*]

What is the humidity like in your house? I had a similar issue when I lived in the very dry desert southwest. I had to resort to running humidifiers and keeping an eye on humidity levels using indoor humidity meters. I tried to keep the humidity above 30 or 35% if possible.
The same thing can happen in winter in other parts of the country due to the drying effects of forced air heat.

The humidifiers helped slow the damage, but once damaged, it won't reverse it.

[gramophoneshane]

If it were mine, I'd probably use Danish Oil to solidify the original finish. It's easy to apply, but unfortunately it's not reversible, but personally I'd rather have something like this to help preserve the original finish under it, than to just let the original finish deteriorate, possibly to the stage where it would need to be stripped and refinished.

[EarlH]

The problem with the lacquer is the plasticizers in it have dried out so the finish won't put up with the wood movement. In those early lacquers they used castor oil for that. That's also why those early lacquers didn't dry to a high gloss. In the early 30's they developed some synthetic plasticizers that were "better" because they let the lacquer dry in a high gloss. And I'm sure most of you have seen those radio cabinets with the finish almost turned to dust, so the synthetic solution didn't really pass the test of time. The earlier lacquers do hold up better if they are given a reasonable amount of care. The old guy that I used to paint for 30+ years ago had worked as a finisher back in the 20's and 30's and Bill said that they figured the lacquer in those days should be good for 30 years.

You could clean your cabinet and get someone to go over it with a coat of lacquer. (or do it yourself) I've done that and it usually looks pretty good and will really brighten the old finish. I have some things I did that to 10-15 years ago and they still look fine. If you use Pledge though, forget that advice as almost anything you go over your old finish with will fisheye and crater. And you'll have spots that refuse to dry. Any furniture polish that has silicone in it should be avoided as you are really creating problems down the road if you ever do want to refinish whatever it is.

Brunswick usually did a really nice job of shading and finishing their cabinets. I honestly think they did a better job of that as a rule than Victor did.

If you start going over your cabinet with oils or wax, (Pledge) it will get down into the wood where the finish is cracking and cause more of it to work loose. And worse yet, it will usually stain the wood and you'll have all those lovely dark veins all over the place in the wood that are almost impossible to get out if you should ever refinish it. If I really liked the old finish and was worried it was going to start flaking off, and it eventually will. I would experiment with some lacquer until I was comfortable spraying it, and go over it. I've found that about half or less of "low sheen" lacquer mixed with half gloss will give a sheen that's pretty close to what you'll see under the lid on your machine. It is a hard question to answer and some folks have really strident ideas about original finishes. And I understand that. But you have something you want to use and keep it looking nice. Shellac seems to be about the only finish that we know has been on furniture for 500 years and it still looks reasonably good. Of course being in a castle in Europe with no central heat and in a very steady climate might have a little to do with it. Haha! Good luck with your old Panatrope. It sounds like it's in good hands. Earl

[gramophoneshane]

Just to be clear, Danish Oil isn't actually an oil, but is closer to a turpentine based varnish.
As stated above, respraying with lacquer can sometimes work miracles, provided there's no silicone present in the finish from cleaning and polishing products used over the years, otherwise fisheyes and craters will appear all over the finish.
Sometimes a couple coats of shellac applied first will seal in any silicone present in the old finish, but not always.
Danish Oil is available in gloss and semigloss, and to date, I've never had it form fisheyes and craters on anything I've used it on, but then I don't know whether silicone has been present on the original finish or not.

[EarlH]

Danish oil is a finish. I wasn't very clear and was talking about oil polishes like "lemon oil" and that sort of thing. They are usually just mineral oil with some sort of scent in them. I've never gone over a lacquer finish with Danish oil, so that's not something I can say anything about. I've had good results with Liberon finishing oil over shellac. It's expensive though.