Refurbishment of Antique Aneroid Barometer

Yes, it takes a bit of practice but at least with shellac it is easy to remove with meths if you get it wrong. I find for large areas the cotton wool pads that the ladies use for removing makeup work well instead of a brush. The work has to be warm enough to stop blooming which I think is caused by the evaporating alcohol reducing the temperature and attracting moisture. Not hot though otherwise it will dry too quickly.

Russell

Old iron, many thanks for your input, just what I was looking for, someone who has done exactly what I propose doing. So it looks like Acetone is the first solvent to try and then when repolished I will obtain some Rustins Metal Lacquer and give that a go, wish me luck.

Dave

I had dozens of barometers on my bench, mainly for new front glass, (bevelled, polished and drilled), sometimes for new silk thread. I replaced the 'jewels' on a couple but it's seldom worth the cost.
I would use Rustins metal lacquer with a touch of turmeric for colour to finish the brass. They do look well if you re-blue any rusty screws too.

Well acetone is permitted in food but meths is definitely not...

Acetone is also dead easy to get in big bottles at the supermarket, just don't buy the 'acetone free' nail varnish remover!

Neil

Hi John, thanks for the tip of using Turmeric in Rustins Metal Lacquer it should give it a nice antiqued look.

Neil I have found that there are many sources for Acetone, it is even available online from Amazon, just to digress it's quite frightening what chemicals are available by mail order particularly from EBay, such substances as 98% Sulphuric Acid, I haven't found Hydroflouric Acid yet but it is probably available somewhere on line and that would be really scary in the light of the current fashion of criminal activity in our major cities.

Dave

I have a nice big aneroid movement with a broken spindle, so I can't case it up and fit a needle.

Is it feasible to replace the spindle? I have visions of just destroying it just by looking too closely at it.