martin help

i dont know why he did this ????- but my grand father has a late 50s martin teardrop mandolin that sounds like it was sent by the angels. anyway about 10 years ago ago he got the gright idea to brush schellac on it to make it look new again--well he now has alzheimers and is dosent really know much anymore - my mom is taking care of him - i would like to restore it to its former glory - any suggestions. the back and sides look like a pretty thin coat - but the top looks pretty "gummy" and heavy in spots. its a 2 tone sunburst

I'd say either take it to a professional, or leave it alone.

The fact that you asked shows that this would porbably be your first try at fixing something like this. Practice on something else and enjoy the mandolin.

absolutly not - i am not scared at all of this project by all means - just making sure i am going in the right direction

As long as you're not scared...

Avoid chemicals and use very fine wet/sry sanding medium. Lightly wet-sand away the crap leaving the original lacquer below.. Tape over all edges and corners first (if not you WILL rub through the original finish and/or round over edges leaving tell tale traces of finish work.

good luck.

I would research further. If you are near a major city there should be a violin restorer that may be willing to give you some advice. If it is a valuable instrument you can easily make matters worse with the wrong treatment. Older violins are very often french polished to preserve worn varnish. I think there may be better routes than the wet sanding. Ideally you want a chemical that will only effect the shellac and not the nitro (assuming it is nitro) underneath. Even a chemical that was only mildly aggressive on the nitro might work if is was very aggressive at removing the shellac, since you will probably need to hand rub the nitro to bring back the shine. Whatever you decide to do make sure you go slow and start on an inconspicuous spot.

I believe alcohol will cut the shellac and not harm the lacquer.

thanks for the info so far - i came across an old pic of my pap playing it - its dated 1961 - and i know its older than than than that - im pretty sure he got it after he came home from WW2 :salude