Cleaning Nicotine off old radios
MikeKE0ZUinkcmo:
I use plain ole ammonia right out of the bottle. It is the "magic" ingredient in many of the cleaners mentioned.
W2VW:
Quote from: MikeKE0Zinkcmo on January 07, 2012, 07:12:56 PM
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I use plain ole ammonia right out of the bottle. It is the "magic" ingredient in many of the cleaners mentioned.
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A agree. It takes a while for the ammonia smell to wear off but 6 months later the cigarette preserved equipment looks and smells just fine.
W2WDX:
Quote from: w3jn on November 26, 2011, 06:56:54 AM
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Lacquer sticks aren't real paint??
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Well they are Lacquer, but most folks use them incorrectly. The most common way people use them is like a crayon. They rub the cold dry lacquer stick into the lettering or grove on a knob and wipe off the excess. Nope ... not gonna last, nor is it how these sticks are designed to be used.
Simply rubbing it on, means it never hardens. Since it is a unhardened oil based material it will tend to collect dirt and go brown from the dirt and patina, it is prone to being pricked out of the engraving, since it's not hardened it will be prone to melting by heat or be dissolved by any solution that breaks down oils, etc.
Heat is the key here. Once the stick is used, an iron is used to melt the lacquer. (These are designed as a filler for furniture.) Once melted (or burned-in) the lacquer is allowed to harden. Then a "lubricant" is used to remove excess. (One that comes to mind is Nu-Glo Patch Lube.) I have tried this method on R390 panels, both with an iron, and with sympathetic methods like a kiln. I was not happy at all with the results. Why? ...
Even if one was to "burn-in" the stick into the engraving, the problem is lacquer does not bond well to enamel. It will tend to want to release out of the engraving at some point. It also tends to bleed out during curing even when sitting still in a kiln, making for lettering that's less than sharp.
So to answer your question ... No ... lacquer sticks are not real paint. Paint is a liquid that hardens and molecularly bonds to the surface it's applied to. Sticks are crayons rubbed onto the surface. So ask yourself ... If your kid draws on the wall with a crayon or instead did so with paint, which would be easier for you to remove? And therein lies the point.
John
W2VW:
Plain old latex white flat paint works for filling in engraved panels. I have one here I painted 20 years ago and it looks pretty good.
Just dab the panel with a wet sponge to remove excess.
w3jn:
Interesting. I have several panels and knobs that have been done over 12 years ago (SX-28, NC-173, R-390),and they exhibit none of the problems you describe. None have chipped or flaked and the lettering and knob indexes are hard. Of course I treat them pretty well and they don't get a lot of use.