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Thread: Restoring brass on a Sanderson Tropical

  1. #31
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,338

    Re: Restoring brass on a Sanderson Tropical

    Gosh - just try bootlegging some of those old world finishes into this state, past our air quality laws and fire codes. The only flammable carcinogenic stuff that gets away with that is women's nail polish! The finest lacquer I have ever seen was "French-polished" in maybe two hundred coats over a marble end-table top
    once belonging to Louis XIV. It is flawless and uncracked to this day, and about a quarter inch thick! The ingredients: pure baltic amber dissolved in poppyseed
    oil. At the time I saw that piece, maybe late 70's, I calculated the cost of the varnish would be around $50,000 dollars per gallon. Today it would be far more.
    I'm not afraid to let that trade secret out of the bag, cause I figure there will be no takers unless you basically own Europe too, along with an antique camera.

  2. #32

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    AZ
    Posts
    4,431

    Re: Restoring brass on a Sanderson Tropical

    I imagine there are other worlds to contact, when thinking about brass varnishing. Such as brass instrument restorers. They probably have modern techniques and materials, but even if not, their finishes sure are robust on Saxophones and Trumpets.

  3. #33
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,338

    Re: Restoring brass on a Sanderson Tropical

    I deal with instrument makers too, including an extremely successful local mfg of stringed (non-electric) varieties. They're just like surfboard makers - each has
    a different opinion of how best to do it, and if two of them are here at the same time, there might be a fistfight. The Chinese glyph for war is two women in the
    same kitchen. Ours might be two different pyro formulators in the same darkroom. Wood and metal finishers are no different.

  4. #34

    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    SooooCal/LA USA
    Posts
    2,802

    Re: Restoring brass on a Sanderson Tropical

    Thanks for the shout-out!!!

    Taking another look a your pix, wanted to know, do you have the back/GG holder for it???

    With your "sticky" finish, probably old nicotine covering it (as smoking was a big pastime for photographers over the ages)... DON'T wipe it with anything water based (as it will haze the shellac)... Test wiping some hidden spot with Ronsonol lighter fluid with a very little on a lint-free cloth... Don't rub, just wipe lightly...

    The level can be refilled with denatured alcohol by drilling a pinhole somewhere underneath, then slowly filling it using a hypodermic syringe with the alcohol until filled, then sucking out a little with the syringe, until a good size bubble is obtained, then the pinhole is sealed with a dab of epoxy... (Remove level assy from camera before this operation!!!)

    You can fit hardwood plugs (or headed bolts) into unused holes and apply a drop of stain or India ink (for black) or pegs with little handles for the air hose holes... (Make or try a old music repair/supply store for old looking hardware...)

    Keep on trucking!!!

    Steve K

  5. #35

    Join Date
    Sep 2001
    Location
    Dunedin,Otago,New Zealand
    Posts
    191

    Re: Restoring brass on a Sanderson Tropical

    Regarding Renaissance Wax - great product. Also protects unglassed fibre based prints on display.

  6. #36

    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Wiltshire, UK
    Posts
    8

    Re: Restoring brass on a Sanderson Tropical

    Steve,

    Having removed the level assembly from the baseboard (!) I will try the repair technique you suggest. I'm interpreting denatured alcohol as methylated spirits, which is normally dyed purple - not ideal! I do have a small amount of industrial meths, which is un-dyed. That could be changed if I knew the original colour - probably yellow or green - but do you think it might be better to use the purple meths and regard it as a further step in the old girl's history? Thanks for the tip anyway. Funny, but I never thought that one day I'd be discussing with people across the world about how to put the bubble back in a spirit level!!!

    As for the back... the second of my four pix shows what I've got. Marked Thornton Pickard and with two metal corner brackets - the rusted remains of one can be seen to the right. It's 8" square, with the opening for the focussing screen being 6.5" square. I also have four double dark slides, each measuring 6.25"x4.5", and a small piece of teak roughly 5"x3.5" with a bevelled front edge. This is what the bellows should rack back on into the body of the camera. The tongues along each side and part of the bevel have broken... Like I said, I've got plenty of work!

    All the best

    Roger

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