A suitable title for such an atrocity.
I recently bought a nice 8 day Forestville ogee clock, with the famous "acorn" movement (has fancy plates). The clock is Rosewood, and will need fairly major work done to it. I may have to strip it down completely, or do multiple touch-ups.
But the dial! The dial is a true horror story. The dial is a signed "JC Brown, Bristol Ct. USA" wooden dial, with painted floral decorations in the corners. However... Someone "restored" it, by overpainting it with a milky-clear coat of white. Then they repainted all the numbers.
All the original dial details are still visible as faint blue lines:
https://mb.nawcc.org/
https://mb.nawcc.org/
https://mb.nawcc.org/
So I decided I'd see if the black numerals would come off, and maybe I'd redo it overtop. I tried lacquer thinner (pretty strong stuff). The black started to come off, but so did some of the white, which revealed a creamy yellow underneath.
I was surprised to see that with careful rubbing, I'll be able to "strip" and then touch-up, the original dial.
Here's a preview.
https://mb.nawcc.org/
I have to be very careful. The background white, and the flowers won't come off (good paint!) but the black is just india ink, and does rub off. I'm not too worried, because I can retrace the dial pretty easily, but I WILL need to be careful with the signature portion of the dial.
I recently bought a nice 8 day Forestville ogee clock, with the famous "acorn" movement (has fancy plates). The clock is Rosewood, and will need fairly major work done to it. I may have to strip it down completely, or do multiple touch-ups.
But the dial! The dial is a true horror story. The dial is a signed "JC Brown, Bristol Ct. USA" wooden dial, with painted floral decorations in the corners. However... Someone "restored" it, by overpainting it with a milky-clear coat of white. Then they repainted all the numbers.
All the original dial details are still visible as faint blue lines:
https://mb.nawcc.org/
https://mb.nawcc.org/
https://mb.nawcc.org/
So I decided I'd see if the black numerals would come off, and maybe I'd redo it overtop. I tried lacquer thinner (pretty strong stuff). The black started to come off, but so did some of the white, which revealed a creamy yellow underneath.
I was surprised to see that with careful rubbing, I'll be able to "strip" and then touch-up, the original dial.
Here's a preview.
https://mb.nawcc.org/
I have to be very careful. The background white, and the flowers won't come off (good paint!) but the black is just india ink, and does rub off. I'm not too worried, because I can retrace the dial pretty easily, but I WILL need to be careful with the signature portion of the dial.