I'm not a refinisher but... The denatured alcohol "melts" the shellac finish and allows it to reflow without stripping anything. It's call re-amalgamation. I'm not sure what the lacquer thinner does for you on a Victor shellac finish. If anything, I would use the alcohol with a bit of fresh shellac rather than lacquer thinner. Denatured alcohol does not work on lacquer finishes if I recall correctly. Look for "French polish" in a Google search. I would be a little shy of using steel wool on a soft shellac finish because of the tiny bits of steel wool that might get embedded in the finish as it dries. Shellac dries to the touch in minutes. The effect re-amalgamation is dramatic on a really badly alligatored finish.
-Don -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of gregory caringi Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 6:06 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Phono-L] Alligatoring We have all run into the problem of alligatoring of the shellac finish on the older machines -- Victor, etc. Even when cleaned thoroughly with Kotton Klenser (or similar), the rough finish remains. Most of us are reluctant to strip the finish. I was told by a refinisher today that it was "easy." He advised using a mixture of denatured alcohol with a "few drops" of lacquer thinner. Rub carefully with fine steel wool -- he uses 000. Allow the shellac to flow smoothly. Let dry. Any comments, suggestions or better ideas? Thanks. Greg Caringi _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list [email protected] http://oldcrank.org/mailman/listinfo/phono-l
