The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I am working on this world phonograph, and where some advice on how to improve the finish.

I haven’t gone to the store to get some things I need for another machine...so I wanted to ask for advice before I go out.

What would you do to the finish?

David

Also is someone can help me figure out why my pictures are always uploading sides ways that would be great

Always start with something gentle and if unsuccessful gradually get more aggressive. So start with non-pumice GoJo applied with clean rags on part of the cabinet and observe the results and go from there.

Jerry B.

Jerry is correct to start with a good cleaning. Howards restore a finish might be the way to go, because your machine appears to have lost quite a bit of finish in spots. I would consider Howards a last resort. Antique refinishing is difficult to get right and making a mistake can cause collectors to turn away for good. If an antique shows it's age, that is many times preferred. Here is how to rotate pictures. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=32325&p=192033&hili ... al#p192033

Thanks for the advice. This is a customers phonograph and it is very special to him because it is a family phonograph. I am almost finished with the mechanical work... so the last thing I need to do is make the machine look nice.

Should I use towels or 0000 steel wool with the GOJO? I have used both in the past, with pretty good results.

David

0000 steal wool and lots of paper towels. It should look great.

With lots of practice on unimportant things first, re-amalgamation would be a good option. Basically, remelting and reflowing the original shellac finish with alcohol. I've seen beautiful results, when done by someone well practiced in the process.

I would love to see a picture of it after working on the finish, the shellac clear coat is in pretty bad shape.

Here is a before and after of one i just worked on, not something for collectors but certainly brings out the beauty of the wood

Here’s some after pictures. It’s certainly better but it could still be better. The customer is happy with it... so I don’t think I’ll do much more to it.

David

Glad to see you haven't stripped and refinished it or "re-amalgamated" the finish. Both are last resorts and in my opinion if you're going to do the latter you might just as well go the whole hog and do the former. Once lost, the original finish with UV fading and age related wear, the things that help provide character and define an antique, can never be got back.

I've had plenty of mahogany cabinets which have been scratched, faded and crazed. All I ever do is use a gentle rubbing compound on a cloth (never anything as abrasive as steel wool) to cut the surface bloom to provide a shiny and reflective surface again. All scratches are coloured with Tops Scratch Cover before gentle wax polishing.

In my experience dirt is never the issue with hard, sealed surfaces like French polish. Its the aging of the finish with shrinkage (crazing) and discolouration / fading due to UV damage. This can be mitigated to a point with the use of a cutting compound to restore the smoothness of the finish which provides better light reflection, hence the transparency of the finish and restoration of the colour. Each item is different and some results are better than others.

Looks very nice! I wouldn't go further. It's like plastic surgery: once you go too far, it's very hard to get that "natural" look back, LOL.