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Seeking finishing suggestions on vintage receiver restoration

July 1, 2021

Q. Hello, finishing community.

I am a here seeking finishing suggestions for a project I am working on.

Couple of months ago I became an owner of a vintage Marantz 4270 receiver. Unfortunately, it had been sitting in someone's garage for over 20 years. And it sat there without the cover, so it is in terrible condition and requires a full restore. Strangely enough, 20+ years of dust and dirt preserved some parts of it, but others not so much. All aluminum knobs and switches, back panel, bottom panel, the front panel and the front plexiglass window are damaged the most. Due to the fact that I would have to clean and re-cap every single PCB, I have completely stripped it down to every very last screw.

           

So here I am. Looking at the bare frame, so I figured it would be a good idea to polish it or do something else to make it better than it was when it came from the factory. Ok, let's step back for a second. I saw someone selling a wooden cabinet for this receiver in high gloss piano white. With a black front panel this receiver would look like a museum piece. I am not a fan of gold, I hate it, but something tells me that gold knobs and switches with an anodized matte look are the only option with white glossy casing and black front panel. I may regret it later, but right now i see no other option. Now, the wooden case has a large opening with black mesh/grille on it, which exposes half of the frame. So now I decided that the frame should match the gold-sh knobs and switches.

The frame is steel, so anodizing it is out of the question. I do not want to chrome it. Way too shiny for my taste. As i do not know any other finishing process, the next option that I am aware of is polishing. And that would be a nightmare and a half, due to the overall shape of it. I was thinking to only polishing the part that would be exposed, but that's a half-ass job. And like the saying goes - never half-ass two things. always whole-ass one thing. So, to summarize: I am looking for ideas and suggestions to give a strangely shaped steel frame a lasting gold/rose gold matte-ish finish. Preferably, something I could do myself. Willing to purchase/build things that are needed to get the job done.

Next are the knobs and switches. They look like aluminum caps with plastic inserts inside. Seems like they are a total loss. I'll probably have to source another set. But what are my options as far as making them gold? Preferrably DIY

Thank you!

Igor Pruchanskiy
- San Diego, California

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Aluminium finishing for audio equipment front panel

July 13, 2020

Q. Hi ,
I need the front panel of my audio equipment to have a Matte/slightly rough looking finish. I am not sure what process to follow or which grade of aluminum to be used,. Any guidance will be highly appreciated.
From what I have read on internet it seems to be some sort of blasting followed by anodizing, but I do not know the size of the beads to be used or the material.

           

aniket das
- India