Been a good while since I’ve posted. My interests settled in on the 1920’s stuff. But I thought the Philco Pholks would be interested. Before and after cleanup. Afraid to go much farther. Worried about the paint integrity.
How do I get the speaker open?
Local find.
(This post was last modified: 01-09-2021, 03:54 PM by Groundhog74.)
I did a 514 awhile back. The paint was durable. It had been stored in a garage for many years and was thick with crud with rust. I used several cleaners and the one that worked best was gojo. After the cleaning I buffed with a very light oil to slow the rust. On the speaker, I had an RCA 100 which looks similar. The front and rear sections rotated about a half inch and I could pull them off. I posted photos of the finished restoration and you might be able to find them.
I had an issue with the Orange hand cleaner. Whatever that black crud all over the radio and speaker is, the Orange or GoJo would not cut it. In a seam on the lid, I put some orange cleaner and let it sit a while to hopefully dissolve the crud. It started dissolving the paint. So Orange cleaner no more. I tried a few different things and finally Mothers Chrome polish cut the crud easily. But, it would, if used too aggressively, cut through the paint. Then I GoJo’ed it again to get off any residue. Let it dry and waxed it.
I used fast Orange, no pumice. Never again on any painted surface.
That Fast Orange bottle says it has pumice in it. That's probably why it started cutting the paint. That a fine abrasive. Take care and BE HEALTHY! Gary
"Don't pity the dead, pity the living, above all, those living without love."
Professor Albus Dumbledore
Gary - Westland Michigan
The jug I bought was non-pumice. I’m always very careful to get non abrasive cleaner.
All I can figure is something about the “citrus” (or whatever it really is) in it is acidic.
It could be paint, but it’s built up pretty thick in corners and crevasses. I thought maybe coal dust? Very black. The splatter from using the chrome polish landed on my white plastic table. Now it’s stained and I can’t get it off of it.