Restoring old plastic on an Oahu?

Lap steels, resonators, multi-neck consoles and acoustic steel guitars

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John Keefe
Posts: 26
Joined: 8 Jul 2019 8:41 am
Location: New York City, USA

Restoring old plastic on an Oahu?

Post by John Keefe »

Hello Steelers,

I have an old Oahu Diana that I am restoring, intending to sell it. There are no serial numbers or other indications of who made it, or when. The potentiometers don't have the side markings we can usually rely on.

There is a plastic cover over the electricals, and it has shrunk, curled and cracked. Making a new one from acrylic would be an easy solution, but if possible I'd like to conserve it.

Does anyone have a guess at what sort of plastic this is, and how I might restore it? It's thin, and moderately flexible. I'm pretty sure it's not Bakelite (the guitar's knobs are in stiff, shiny brown plastic).

I'll leave it at that. If any members know how I might approach this, I'd appreciate a Private Message (so as to not clog up the Forum). I'll send pictures.

Thank you.

John Keefe
New York
Gibson Console Grande, Gibson CG530, Stringmaster Quad, Laps from Richenbacker, Gibson, Supro, Hofner, and Epiphone; Plus trace amounts of musical acumen and good sense.
Bill Hatcher
Posts: 7295
Joined: 6 Nov 1998 1:01 am
Location: Atlanta Ga. USA

Post by Bill Hatcher »

on the back of it, sand a little spot and smell it. if it has a spicy camphor smell its celluloid.
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