Al -
The best way will be to let it retone naturally: any attempts at putting a
false patina on it will look fake. The retoning will always look a little
pinker than the original.
Cleaning and retoning copper is a big issue with coin collectors -
especially with small cents. I know a fair amount about this and know that
cleaned copper coins are worth but a fraction of ones with their original
toning -even if brown. Yes - technically pennies from 1864 - 1982
(excepting some war production) were brass/bronze, but the same principles
apply: the retoning will ALWAYS look different from the original and will be
detectable by a purist looking for a pristine example. Experts recommend
that cleaned coins be allowed to retone naturally. It will take longer than
your lifetime for them to return to their original tone.
Luckily, in our case, people aren't as rabid about cleaning radios as coin
collectors are about cleaning coins. You won't be losing hundreds of
dollars in value and you may have actually made the radio worth more - if
that's your concern. It takes more than a shiny chassis to make a radio
"mint", and very few available today are truly "mint". They justifiable
command what appear to be ridiculous prices to folks who just want a nice
example to play with.
One way that you can darken it a bit is to re-lacquer it. Spray
polyurethane will help seal the plating from further moisture problems and
will definitely darken it.
I usually use copper-colored model paint to touch up any really bad areas
(I.e., pitting), because it helps seal the chassis and is easily removable
if a subsequent owner wishes to remove it.
YMMV...
Steve Wedge, W1ES/4
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
All my computers have my signature with various pearls of wisdom appended
thereto.
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Al Schichler" <aschich...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2012 11:17 AM
To: <drakelist@zerobeat.net>
Subject: [Drakelist] Copper chassis refurb problems
I recently acquired an R-4A that has some tarnishing and corrosion on the
copper chassis. Not real bad, but it's kind of spotted like a lot of Drake
chassis. Anyway, the back panel was kind of black along the bottom edge,
maybe the bottom 1/4" width or so. The only thing that would remove the
black was steel wool, probably because it was under the lacquer, and it
only came off after removing the lacquer.
Now the black discoloration is gone, but the bottom 3/8" or so of the back
panel is brighter and shinier than the upper part. It's a little pinkish
and bright, kind of like a polished penny. The rest of the chassis is a
little more orangy, for lack of a better description.
Does anyone know of a good way to darken the brighter and shinier part of
the chassis without having to wait years? I plan on clear-coating the
whole back panel after I get the whole thing to look more even.
I found several articles online with methods to darken and tarnish copper,
but none of them did anything when testing them on a piece of copper sheet
metal.
Thanks,
Al, WA2S
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