Open invitation to contribute to a general Library article on refurbishment
[Note: See details explaining the open invitation above, further on in my post #15].
Cosmetic refurbishment of a B&O 1700 tuner
I bought this tuner off eBay and it arrived today. As with any used vintage or classic audio equipment, I always give the exterior a good clean and try to restore, as much as I can, the cosmetic condition.
Having just done this, I thought I would pass on my experience to others who like to do the same; there are at least a couple of members of AoS, who are interested in refurbishing used audio items. Whilst these notes specifically refer to the above-mentioned tuner, they are sufficiently general to apply to most classic items.
First of all, I have to say that the tuner cosmetically was in excellent condition: no scratches; dents; ‘dings’ or rubbed out lettering. It was however dirty, being mostly due to finger grease and dust. There was an overall patina of grime, suggesting that a smoker might have used the item.
First step is to play some calm, soothing music whilst you are working on the clean up: I chose to play some baroque and early music.
Next place the item on a cloth or old towel; you don’t want to add any scratches or scuff marks. Dust the item with a duster, and then wipe down the entire exterior with a damp cloth, working the cloth into the ventilation slots.
With the exception of the rear and underside of the tuner, the visible parts consisted of a black, brushed, and anodised facia with wood top and sides. I think the wood is teak, but I’m not sure – perhaps our resident dendrologist can identify it from the photograph.
Next step is to clean up the fascia and remove the greasy grime. To do this, gently rub and wipe the surface with a cloth soaked in white spirit. Pay particular attention to those parts that have received the most finger marks: the controls such as the tuning cursor, the preset thumb wheels and the push buttons. These parts will most likely need extra attention, requiring the use of some polishing wadding (‘Duraglit’ or similar). Be careful and don’t rub too hard, otherwise you might find yourself removing the lettering! Push the push buttons in and out, so as to clean them thoroughly. On this tuner the push buttons are contiguous, even so their sides can be cleaned using dental floss to work in between the small gaps. Also be careful not to use the wadding on any textured surfaces, such as the grooved edges of the thumb wheels or knurled knobs, otherwise when the alcohol evaporates, you will be left with rouge in the grooves and these will require an old toothbrush to clean it out.
I even took some time to clean up the captive mains lead. At some time, some gloss paint had splashed onto the lead. This took a combination of white spirit to remove the general grime, and some paintbrush cleaner to soften the paint, so that it could be scratched away with a fingernail. I could have replaced the mains cable, but it was in excellent condition, and of the appropriate colour. Being original, it used the Danish mains wiring colour code, before the introduction of the EU harmonisation.
The final treatment of the fascia is to polish it using something like Pledge or Mr Sheen. Use acute sight lines to ensure that the surface is polished evenly. Pay particular attention to the tuning scale, or in this case the cursor. The plastic of the cursor on the tuner had become dull with age. Unfortunately I don’t know what can be done about it, however the dullness is even and uniform. There will be some parts that have become permanently polished through repeated rubbing by the users fingers. In my case this was around the preset thumb wheels, again there is little that can be done about this, but this defect is minor.
The wood parts can now be polished using wax furniture polish and much ‘elbow grease’.
Finally, there will be inevitable slight blemishes of the black anodising, especially on edges and corners. These can be touched up using a black spirit-based magic marker. This can only be a palliative measure – it’s not permanent and is only effective for the smallest of marks.
Now you can sit back and admire your handiwork. No doubt most people might feel that I have been unnecessarily fussy, well whereas some people will refurbish cars or furniture, paintings, or clocks - I refurbish audio equipment.
Here is a photograph showing the result of my labours.
http://i780.photobucket.com/albums/y...nt/BOtuner.jpg
What does it sound like? Well that will be the subject of a future post.
Trust this is found to be useful and interesting.
Regards
