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Old 2nd Apr 2017, 4:25 pm   #1
Jazzagi11
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Default Help on restoration of cabinet for GEC Stereogram -

Hi All

I'm wondering if anyone can help me. I recently inherited a GEC Stereogram from my late aunt. It is a beautiful piece but has numerous scratches and bashed bits. I'm really struggling to identify what the finish is that has been used and I wondered if anyone else has one of these and might be able to spread some light? It looks like some sort of chip board which has a veneer and then a very think glossy/glassy type surface coating.

Most of the scratches are just to the coating do if I can figure out what that is I'm hopeful I can fix it. I've tried nail varnish remover and methylated spirit but neither have worked.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received!



Thank you

Jasmine
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Old 2nd Apr 2017, 4:43 pm   #2
paulsherwin
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Default Re: Help on restoration of cabinet for GEC Stereogram -

The finish is almost certainly cellulose lacquer, often with some sort of dye included.

There are various things that you could do. The most drastic is to remove the lacquer completely with paint stripper and then apply a new finish, which could be French polish, liquid wax or Danish oil. You are unlikely to achieve a finish that is exactly like the original but very good results are possible.

If you don't want to do that for whatever reason, you need to clean the existing finish, apply dye to the scratches so that the colour matches, and apply wax furniture polish in the normal way.

Cosmetic damage like this is always the most difficult aspect of radio restoration, as you need both skill and time to make a good job of it.
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Old 2nd Apr 2017, 6:02 pm   #3
vidjoman
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Default Re: Help on restoration of cabinet for GEC Stereogram -

If it's from the 60's about then GEC started to use a Polyester lacquer that was almost impervious to most solvents when dry. It would not take our spirit based 'touchup' pens that we carried to hide any small scratches. It just wiped off straight away.
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