The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Looking for any tips on refinishing the copper horn on this little guy, my understanding is that the copper was originally lacquered. The turntable has 'manufactured in 1921' stamped on the underside but I think the machine itself was probably made a few years later, or would a lot of houses have had electricity in 1921? . Anyway, my current question is what kind of lacquer would have been used back then, and is there a safe way to strip it off without damaging the copper? Oh, and what about the brass feet too? Thanks!

Hello,
We had a similar looking project Capitol. The only thing that cleaned the copper was acetone(use outside!). Then used a buffer and rouge polish stick to shine it. We removed all the brass pieces (our usual method of restoration/cleaning is to totally disassemble the machine), cleaned them in a bath of citric acid and then polished on a brass wire wheel to get into the crevices. After re-assembly, the base got a few coats of Lacquer for brass (a spray product by Mohawk). The lacquer spray contains a percentage of the original type of lacquer used a hundred years ago. We are pleased with the outcome, and it still looks as good more than a year later.
Pictures show before cleaning, after cleaning/polishing and the Mohawk lacquer spray we used, the cleaning instructions are a photo we found somewhere on the internet (good original information about the care and cleaning).
Hope this information helps! Let us know if you need any further pictures or help.
All the best,

Perfect! This is exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you so much.

Great stuff...

It's not polish but will remove tarnish right before your eyes.

https://www.amazon.com/Flitz-BC-01806-I ... 9460&psc=1

Hope you have had good luck cleaning the machine. I noticed that the cable is two core. For your safety (should you plan to run the machine) it might be advisable to get an electrician to provide an earth cable. There's an awful lot of highly conductive metal there.

I’m a jeweler and metalsmith. Remove the lacquer with acetone, and soak the copper portion in pH Down swimming pool acid. That will remove the oxidation and make it easy to polish. I would polish on a buffing wheel with a linen buff and red jeweler’s rouge. Follow with new buff and Simichrome Polish. Wash with Dawn detergent and water. Blot dry with a cotton cloth and spray with gloss Everbright ProtectaClear. Don’t use lacquer.

What an unusual talking machine, one that sent me off and running with my web browser.

For people like me, who have never seen and Capitol machine ....

https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/bur ... 59418.aspx

https://intertique.com/LampPhonographs.htm


The link below has embedded video clip of the machine in play:

https://mechanicalmusic.net/lampophone-2/