Project Information
Hi all,
Firstly I wasn't sure if I should post this elsewhere but please feel free to remove if it is in the wrong place.
I was asked to restore an old athletics plaque, found in storage, by a local primary school. The plaque is an athletics award from the 1930's and was in very poor condition.
The school has their 100th anniversary next year and were wanting to have it on display along with other old memorabilia they are finding in storage.
I wanted to try as much as possible to keep the patina and feel of the original plaque so did no sanding.
First I removed the silver.
As I didn't know what the remnants of finish were I first used paint stripper then lightly rubbed it back with methylated spirit and a scotchbrite pad just to remove any finish that remained (not the wood).
I then applied about 50 coats of shellac with a tiny amount of stain added with a rubber.
This sounds a lot but it goes on fast when you use a rubber to apply.
When the shellac finish had hardened I applied a good furniture wax.
I soaked the silver in Coke for a few hours and then used a good metal polish on an electric toothbrush to clean before reaffixing them to the plaque.
Thanks for looking
Firstly I wasn't sure if I should post this elsewhere but please feel free to remove if it is in the wrong place.
I was asked to restore an old athletics plaque, found in storage, by a local primary school. The plaque is an athletics award from the 1930's and was in very poor condition.
The school has their 100th anniversary next year and were wanting to have it on display along with other old memorabilia they are finding in storage.
I wanted to try as much as possible to keep the patina and feel of the original plaque so did no sanding.
First I removed the silver.
As I didn't know what the remnants of finish were I first used paint stripper then lightly rubbed it back with methylated spirit and a scotchbrite pad just to remove any finish that remained (not the wood).
I then applied about 50 coats of shellac with a tiny amount of stain added with a rubber.
This sounds a lot but it goes on fast when you use a rubber to apply.
When the shellac finish had hardened I applied a good furniture wax.
I soaked the silver in Coke for a few hours and then used a good metal polish on an electric toothbrush to clean before reaffixing them to the plaque.
Thanks for looking