Rock-ola 1446 Cabinet Refinishing

Greetings,

I am restoring a Rock-ola 1446 jukebox. Over the years someone stained the cabinet, and I would like to restore it to the original color. I plan to strip and refinish the cabinet. Has anyone had any experience doing this? Can you recommend any particular materials?

Thank you for your advice and assistance.

Hello person with no name .....

Perhaps these pictures helps you with the color and the design of wood grain.

Axel

three more pictures ....

And the original pilasters were like you can see it on the pictures ... blue-green like a lagoon in the south sea .....
The Pilasters in the pictures above are reproductions with too much green color.
Meanwhile I could find near NOS original pilasters, shown in the picture here.



2 mal bearbeitet. Zuletzt am 11.07.22 17:55.

Greetings Axel,

My apologies. It was my first positing, and I didn't realize may name didn't show up on the signature. My name is Todd, and yes the pilasters are reproductions. I found site int he UK that sells reproductions that has the same pattern as the original. They are translucent white, but they will be better than the ones on the machine now.

Where did you find the NOS pilasters? Can you share the website?

I did find this stain that looks close to the "Limed Caribbean Blue Walnut" in the Rock-Ola brochure.

Thank you again for your correspondence.

Best regards,
Todd

Hello Todd

The pilaster in the picture above I could find, are no new reproductions, but real old ones, which were never much exposed to light and nicotine during their life. This is the reason for the more blue color.
I found them on ebay USA many many years ago, before I bought my third and best 1446.

There was some years ago in Switzerland a Jukebox restorer, Thomas Badertscher, who reproduced the pilasters for the 1438 ( Comet ) in creme color and the for the 1446 ( HiFi ) in ( too much ) green color.
But I don´t know whether Thomas makes still these reproductions.


Your found "wood finish" seems to match quite good for the color, but the "stripes" in the wood painting are still a problem for sure.

Best wishes
Axel

Hello Todd
Hello Axel

As far as I can see it's a wood stain and doesn't produce any grain. In the original, the housing parts are printed (probably screen-printed). With it, manufacturers imitated real wood, but also made some fancy patterns, such as the Rock-Ola 1446, Seeburg HF100 G/W etc.


>>>Minwax® Wood Finish™ is a penetrating oil-based wood stain, which provides beautiful rich color that enhances the natural wood grain. It applies easily, absorbs deep into the pores of the wood, and is ideal for staining unfinished wood furniture, cabinets, doors, trim, molding, and hardwood floors<<<

[www.minwax.com]

Regards
Roland

Greetings Axel and Roland,

Thank you for your kind replies. I will reach out to Thomas Badertscher. I did find reproduction pilasters in a translucent cream at this website: [www.jukeboxrevival.co.uk]. The pattern is the same as the original. I plan to replace the pilasters that are currently on the 1446; they just don't have the right "look".

I don't think I will be able to reproduce the original "zebra pattern", but I should be able to get close to the color with some blue wood grain tones. It will definitely look better than it does now. LOL

Kind regards,
Todd

PS. The only original part I seem missing is the cash box/lock assembly. I attached a picture. Please let me know if you know where I might be able to locate one.