John Cremati wrote: > > In old painting restoration the art conservators remove old varnish I > believe by rubbing alcohol with cotton Q tips first and if that does > not work they will try denatured alcohol second which is a little stronger > and if that does not work they will use acetone as a last resort .. They > would always make their test on a part of the painting that could not be > seen.... John Cremati > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Marv Soloff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <"cameramakers"@rosebud.opusis.com> > Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 1:42 PM > Subject: [Cameramakers] Camera Restoration > > > This may be old hat to some on the NG, but I am going to pass it along. > > I had been restoring a Gundlatch-Manhattan 4x5 view camera. The leather > > was a total loss so I carefully removed it with a sparse wet-down of hot > > water. Unfortunately, some of the water leaked into the camera interior > > and produced a white "bloom" on the camera interior's pristine cherry > > finish. Much reading indicated that the cherry interior was now a total > > mess and I would have to strip and re-finish it. I put the camera away > > for a year as other things had priority. > > > > Last night, I pulled the Gundlatch out and took another look at it - the > > white "bloom" was still there. I have (over the years) used common brake > > fluid as a solvent and wondered if the brake fluid would dissolve the > > old varnish in a "minimum impact" way. Brake fluid was carefully applied > > with a piece of surgical gauze over the cherry interior, let stand for > > several minutes, then wiped off with a larger piece of lint-free cloth. > > > > To my complete surprise, the white "bloom" was gone and the cherry > > finish was intact! A bit of furniture polish and I was home free. > > > > If you are going to try this method of restoration, use common sense. > > I am guarantee-ing nothing, and you are on your own. Have your attorney > > bother someone else. > > > > Regards, > > > > Marv > > _______________________________________________ > > Cameramakers mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://rmp.opusis.com/mailman/listinfo/cameramakers > > > > _______________________________________________ > Cameramakers mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://rmp.opusis.com/mailman/listinfo/cameramakers
The reason the brake fluid works is that these old finishes were shellac, not varnish. The brake fluid softens the shellac which then rehardens. Regards, Marv _______________________________________________ Cameramakers mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://rmp.opusis.com/mailman/listinfo/cameramakers
