Originally Posted by
Glenn
That gunk is old shellac clear coat that has gone bad, usually caused by storage in a very hot gold place with lots of humidity. Heat is the worst. The black drips are a poor japan job by the maker. You can take the gunk off but you must be very carefull or you will loose what decals are left and scraping will take them off to. You can use denatured alcohol on a rag around a finger with a drop or two of linseed oil so you will not cut to deep into the decals. Once all is gone you will have to shellac the head using the french polish or you can use spray shellac(clear). Go to the tutorial section and look up my instructions to help you. Most of the decals on this machine are gone but try to save as much as you can. You have a hard to clean with this one.
Thank you for the advice; I was hoping to be able to clean it with oil left on for quite a while. It's simpler, and the strong chemicals intimidate me a little, but at least I will learn a few new techniques out of the deal! There really is very, very little of the decals left, just a hint of gold here and there, although I can see where they used to be in spots, and the camera made even more of them show up than what's visible to the naked eye.
I am glad that I went into this with low expectations about the appearance of the machine; I just wanted one that worked! Around here asking price for a decent-looking machine is much more than what I paid, and one in working condition tends to be out of my price range. I'm still pretty happy with it, although it's going to live on my workbench for a few weeks until I get everything I need to try to clean it following your tutorials.
Thanks for the advice, everyone
