refinishing a gold crown

C

cueclub

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Does anyone here have experience in replacing the arborite or formica on the rails of a gold crown I? I just received mine and the rails are in pretty bad shape. The biggest problem I have run into so far is getting the old arborite off. I have tried a heat gun, but it wouldn't budge at all. Would really appreciate any input or ideas.

Thanks.
 
One option that you do have is what the student union did at the U of M. Buy new GCIV rails and use them. That is what they did for the worn out rails on their anniversary tables.
 
Good Luck

From what I have heard it is almost imposible to do on GC1 & 2s because of the glue they used was so good. I asked one of the people I learned from who has been in the business since the 50's about replacing the formica and he said the glue Brunswick used at the time was to good and almost imposible to remove.

Steve
 
What I've done

I've helped to restore the rails on 2 GCs, I don't recall what series they were, but here's what we did.

Get a belt sander with 80 grit Aluminum Oxide belts, and carefully sand off the top two layers of the laminate. The top layer is the wood grain, and the second layer is reddish in color. Sand until all the red is gone. Once that's done, clean up with tack cloth. Then, the best part. You can order whatever type of wood veneer you happen to like. Cut the veneer into strips that are extra long and extra wide, just make sure one of the long sides is good and straight. Line the straight edge up with the edge of the spline pocket and carefully glue the veneer down with good quality contact cement. You'll need a good roller to get the bubbles out. Trim along the outer edges carefully with a razor, or if you have one a rotary tool with a bearing guide. After the glue dries you can still work out lumps and bubbles by carefully using an iron. Finish with clear urethane.

One of the most important steps will be using a square to mark a line from the center of the sights around to the back and recording the distance to the center of the sights to either edge on each rail. It's hard work, but the results are beautiful and you can have a one of a kind GC when you're done.
 
96supersport said:
I've helped to restore the rails on 2 GCs, I don't recall what series they were, but here's what we did.

Get a belt sander with 80 grit Aluminum Oxide belts, and carefully sand off the top two layers of the laminate.
Click to expand...

Perhaps this is a dumb question, but how do you preserve the curvature of the rails when you do this? Wouldn't you be in danger of creating flat/uneven spots if you take a belt sander to it?
 
BooBoo said:
One option that you do have is what the student union did at the U of M. Buy new GCIV rails and use them. That is what they did for the worn out rails on their anniversary tables.
Click to expand...


Did they buy the rails directly from brunswick or used?
 
The Rails Stay Round

You aren't taking enough off the rails to remove the curvature, that would take forever. You're only taking off maybe 1/32" and the stuff is hard, so it's not easy to screw up. Because the material you're removing is a laminate and changes colors as you go, it is very easy to take off the same amount all over. As with anything, it just takes care and patience. I don't have pictures because the tables were both already sold when I was working on them so there was no need for them. I was just doing them as a favor for someone. We also stripped all the paint from the whole table, it was a tangerine color to start with. There's acutally some really nice wood under the paint on the skirts. Nice enough to even just put some stain or urethane on and call it good. I wish one of the tables was for me, but I don't even have room for a table right now.
 
96supersport said:
You aren't taking enough off the rails to remove the curvature, that would take forever. You're only taking off maybe 1/32" and the stuff is hard, so it's not easy to screw up...
Click to expand...

Ah OK, thanks. I've seen a GC refinish job where they stripped the paint from the outer curved edges of the leg pedastals and then repainted the inner flat section. (There's a vertical join that runs from top to bottom if you look closely) The clean bare wood contrasting against the new paint looked really good IMHO and makes it look quite custom compared to a regular GC.

I also noticed some of Pat Sheehans articles from OnTheBreak news have been covering refinishing recently.
 
thanks for the input. I will give i a try and see how it turns out. If that doesn't work then I'll have to take it to our friend "Frenchie" to do it.
 
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