Hawgfiddle Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Hi all Just got an old Lachenal English .Pretty good overall . Wood work is rosewood veneer over another wood . I would guess that this was originally finished with French polish. It is in pretty good condition , none of the fretwork missing or chipped .A few small chips round the edge and a couple of fingernail gouges- not through the rosewood. Ive encountered a few old banjos over the years which were French polished .Do the same rules apply, just a clean with warm soapy water and dry ? Any point applying a furniture wax/paste wax to further protect. The instrument is a tutor model with red C keys and stamped note letters . Some people suggest popping the keys in a dishwasher. Don't want to lose the red staining nor the remainders of stampings. I'd be just as happy cleaning each button individually- soapy water again? Can I ad soft electricials wax to highlight the letters? Ta Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAc Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 48 minutes ago, Hawgfiddle said: Hi all Some people suggest popping the keys in a dishwasher. Don't want to lose the red staining nor the remainders of stampings. I'd be just as happy cleaning each button individually- soapy water again? Can I ad soft electricials wax to highlight the letters? Ta Jim Hi Jim, I took the buttons to a local jeweller and had him clean them in their ultrasonic cleaning device. Wasn't expensive and turned out decent enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawgfiddle Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 Hi I'm probably a 120-140 mile round trip to my nearest jewellers !! However , there's lots of crafty type folk in these parts, I'll ask around . Might be someone who has such a thing! Good idea! Thanks Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Pearce Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Jim You could try violin polish for the woodwork. I have used Super Nicko with good results, available from Beare and Sons. But there are others available on the internet. https://beareandson.co.uk/super-nicko-31-p.asp Regards Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex West Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 You could also try Burnishing Cream - available in small bottles for freshening up French polish Alex West Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawgfiddle Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 Hi Got some Super Nicko , which is actually a burnishing cream .Brought the wood up a treat! Thanks all Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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