Posted by Bill Epstein [ 24.166.112.105 ] on February 14, 2008 at 07:53:59:
In Reply to: Re: 1944 Philco Radio posted by Wayne Parham on February 14, 2008 at 00:03:15:
First, Trell has to decide whether to refinish.
Restoration will lower any possible antique value. A thorough cleaning would be fine, tho. Just a few drops of Dawn in 2 cups of warm water applied with a damp, not wet, white cloth. Keep wiping until the cloth comes way clean, then rinse with damp, not wet cloth and wipe dry.
Ordinarily, this would be followed by paste wax, Johnsons or Antiquax, but the crazing of the lacquer means some wax would remain in the cracks and be unsightly. If the lacquer is on tight, the wax can be brushed with a soft brush like you'd use to buff shoes and that will fix whatever wax remains.
An intermediate way to restore the finish if antique value isn't important would be to use Behlen's Qualarenu to dissolve and re-form the old lacquer.
Full re-finishing would involve stripping the lacquer with lacquer thinner and then professional re-spraying. You'd want to carefully choose a refinish shop for that, veneer damage is a real possibility.
I'd have a reputable antique refinisher recommended by a good antique dealer in to look at the piece. Hard to tell from a photo but the veneer looks so good and so lovely I'd just clean and wax.
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