Hi all,

Some of you may recall that I purchased a rather sad looking '38 15"X8" Broadway a while ago and sought comments on the merits (or otherwise) of trying to re-finish the Duco finish. Anyway, I took the plunge and offer you a few before & after photos of the nearly-complete project. As you will see, I still have not been able to obtain the complete throw mechanism but this is a work in progress.

Having read about Purdie Shuffle’s ingenious record turntable arrangement, I originally intended to use the same idea. However, following the maxim that ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’, I instead created a somewhat Heath-Robinson device using a bicycle wheel mounted on a sheet of ¾” plywood which although absurdly simple, actually worked extremely well. The well-greased hub bearing in the wheel permitted the wheel to rotate for prolonged periods during spraying with minimal need for additional manual turning.

Stripping the original black/gold paint from the 15”x8” shell was very easy using a strong chemical stripper. The risk presented by the old lead paint meant that sanding was not an option. It was interesting to note that as the paint softened and was scraped off, it was clear that there was a lot of blue in the black paint or maybe and undercoat or something. With 95% of the pain removed, I finished off the shell with 400 then 800 grit paper until it was ready for the primer coat.

I know that Purdie Shuffle recommended Krylon paint but this is New Zealand and we have limited number of options here. I decided instead to use Dulux spray paints these generally worked well. I obviously have nothing to compare the quality of the spray nozzle with, but I suspect the Dulux cans are not as good as the Krylon ones. In any event I found that by spinning the bike wheel turntable at a moderate speed it was possible to get a very even distribution of the paint. I did try to align the fade area with the holes for the lugs and I think that this generally worked OK. I followed Purdie’s advice and did around 5-6 coats of the central gold band first and then the black top and bottom while the gold was still tacky. Finally I applied around 15-20 coats of clear gloss sealer

I also carefully cleaned all of the drum hardware while the drum was stripped. With the careful use of a drill-mounted polisher and various proprietary compounds removed 80 years worth of accumulated grime and crud from the nickel fittings and hoops, producing very pleasing results. I think the photos speak for themselves.

As you know, I did question whether it was philosophically acceptable to strip the original paint from the shell but the appalling condition of parts of the original Duco finally tipped the balance for me. Overall, I’m very pleased with the finished drum and can safely say that it turned out a lot better than I had expected. At one point during the re-spray, it really looked awful and I was almost resigned to the fact that I would have to strip it back to the bare shell and start again or perhaps even leave it natural. But I’m glad I persevered. The only thing that is a little disappointing is that the gold band is a lot less ‘yellow’ than the original was. Maybe they used a gold leaf type paint, which was brighter. Who knows. I also think that the original ‘black’ paint included a dark blue pigment because there were definite areas of green between the gold and black areas.

Sadly, I still need to source the replacement parts for the 4-point strainer, 1 T-rod and an insert to complete the drum, but for now I’m just happy to put it on the shelf and admire it. I hope that you do too!