What was the typical furniture finish in the 1930's, 40's?

I have a phonograph, about 14x14x7" whose finish was in very good
shape, until a leaking roof splattered water onto the wood cabinet.
Now it's sort of a set of parallel, very thin triangles (an eighth
inch or so), with good finish in half of the triangles, and in between
places where the finish is gone, and dull, plain wood shows. The
finish is like a thin layer of some coating. It's not linseed oil or
something that just soaks in.

I would like to repair the finish of course, and I'm hoping you can
advise me.

Would this be the shellac I've heard about, in which new shellac
repairs the old shellac, by sort of melting into it and they redry,
reharden together? That would be great, but I thought if that were
the case, there would be white stains where the original shellac got
wet, but there are none. If it is as easy as just brushing on new
shellac, that would be great, but I'm willing to do a lot more work
also if that's what it takes.


My mother got this maybe around 1930, maybe later. It has a tone arm
that weighs 8 oz. to a pound, uses steel needles that are guaranteed
to play 10 records, and is actually a rather cheap model, I think, in
that it has no amplifier or speaker. It only has a 2 or 3 tube
transmitter, that broadcasts on 540 or 1610** and can be listened to
via an AM radio. But it works fine. And that actually has the
advantage that one can iirc listen to radios all over the house, with
only one record player. Well I'm not sure I ever did that, because the
records are done so quickly there is barely time to get to another
part of the house. But if there were more than one person home, and
it transmitted far enough, that would be an advantage.


**I forget what the frequency is. It's on a piece of paper in the
record player, and it's not hard to just tune the radio until you find
it. That's how I found it in the first place. My mother had lost
interest. Although we have a bunch of 78 rpm records, including a few
Caruso, John McCormick, etc., some recorded only on one side, and flat
on the other side. I don't think they are worth much money --
certainly all the good ones have been rerecorded already from other
people's 78's -- but it doesn't matter I have no desire to sell any of
this until after I die.

Thanks.

mm wrote:
What was the typical furniture finish in the 1930's, 40's?

Nitro lacquer, possibly. Manufacturers took to it rapidly at about
that time, due to its reliabilty, looks, quick dry, sprayability, and
abilty to fuse level to previous coats without sanding between coats.

Cobwebbed lacquer means it was formulated to cure hard, which
it did, but at the expense of longevity.

Spot solvent test on an inconspicous area:

Lacquer thinner or any of its constituents will dissolve lacquer.
Alcohol will dissolve shellac.
No common solvent will disolve varnish or oil.

I have a phonograph, about 14x14x7" whose finish was in very good
shape, until a leaking roof splattered water onto the wood cabinet.
Now it's sort of a set of parallel, very thin triangles (an eighth
inch or so), with good finish in half of the triangles, and in between
places where the finish is gone, and dull, plain wood shows. The
finish is like a thin layer of some coating. It's not linseed oil or
something that just soaks in.

I would like to repair the finish of course, and I'm hoping you can
advise me.

Would this be the shellac I've heard about, in which new shellac
repairs the old shellac, by sort of melting into it and they redry,
reharden together? That would be great, but I thought if that were
the case, there would be white stains where the original shellac got
wet, but there are none. If it is as easy as just brushing on new
shellac, that would be great, but I'm willing to do a lot more work
also if that's what it takes.


My mother got this maybe around 1930, maybe later. It has a tone arm
that weighs 8 oz. to a pound, uses steel needles that are guaranteed
to play 10 records, and is actually a rather cheap model, I think, in
that it has no amplifier or speaker. It only has a 2 or 3 tube
transmitter, that broadcasts on 540 or 1610** and can be listened to
via an AM radio. But it works fine. And that actually has the
advantage that one can iirc listen to radios all over the house, with
only one record player. Well I'm not sure I ever did that, because the
records are done so quickly there is barely time to get to another
part of the house. But if there were more than one person home, and
it transmitted far enough, that would be an advantage.


**I forget what the frequency is. It's on a piece of paper in the
record player, and it's not hard to just tune the radio until you find
it. That's how I found it in the first place. My mother had lost
interest. Although we have a bunch of 78 rpm records, including a few
Caruso, John McCormick, etc., some recorded only on one side, and flat
on the other side. I don't think they are worth much money --
certainly all the good ones have been rerecorded already from other
people's 78's -- but it doesn't matter I have no desire to sell any of
this until after I die.

Thanks.

Father Haskell wrote:
mm wrote:
What was the typical furniture finish in the 1930's, 40's?

Nitro lacquer, possibly. Manufacturers took to it rapidly at about
that time, due to its reliabilty, looks, quick dry, sprayability, and
abilty to fuse level to previous coats without sanding between coats.

Cobwebbed lacquer means it was formulated to cure hard, which
it did, but at the expense of longevity.

Spot solvent test on an inconspicous area:

Lacquer thinner or any of its constituents will dissolve lacquer.
Alcohol will dissolve shellac.
No common solvent will disolve varnish or oil.

Laquer thinner does a good job of disolving varnish in my book, Plus a
lot of other things.




I have a phonograph, about 14x14x7" whose finish was in very good
shape, until a leaking roof splattered water onto the wood cabinet.
Now it's sort of a set of parallel, very thin triangles (an eighth
inch or so), with good finish in half of the triangles, and in between
places where the finish is gone, and dull, plain wood shows. The
finish is like a thin layer of some coating. It's not linseed oil or
something that just soaks in.

I would like to repair the finish of course, and I'm hoping you can
advise me.

Would this be the shellac I've heard about, in which new shellac
repairs the old shellac, by sort of melting into it and they redry,
reharden together? That would be great, but I thought if that were
the case, there would be white stains where the original shellac got
wet, but there are none. If it is as easy as just brushing on new
shellac, that would be great, but I'm willing to do a lot more work
also if that's what it takes.


My mother got this maybe around 1930, maybe later. It has a tone arm
that weighs 8 oz. to a pound, uses steel needles that are guaranteed
to play 10 records, and is actually a rather cheap model, I think, in
that it has no amplifier or speaker. It only has a 2 or 3 tube
transmitter, that broadcasts on 540 or 1610** and can be listened to
via an AM radio. But it works fine. And that actually has the
advantage that one can iirc listen to radios all over the house, with
only one record player. Well I'm not sure I ever did that, because the
records are done so quickly there is barely time to get to another
part of the house. But if there were more than one person home, and
it transmitted far enough, that would be an advantage.


**I forget what the frequency is. It's on a piece of paper in the
record player, and it's not hard to just tune the radio until you find
it. That's how I found it in the first place. My mother had lost
interest. Although we have a bunch of 78 rpm records, including a few
Caruso, John McCormick, etc., some recorded only on one side, and flat
on the other side. I don't think they are worth much money --
certainly all the good ones have been rerecorded already from other
people's 78's -- but it doesn't matter I have no desire to sell any of
this until after I die.

Thanks.