Celluloid repairing

[nagant27]

I’m curious if anyone has ever done a celluloid repair using acetone and celluloid?
I have an accordion that is an “ok” box but has sone awesome professional binci reeds. They are pristine and sound great. The accordion was an organ/cordovox like instrument.
Sadly the accordion was carried in its case upside down and the body where the keyboard attaches to it cracked. I clamped and used titebond to reconnect it. Then I made a couple metal brackets to reinforce it that a screwed and gorilla glued in place on the sides.(under the keyboard) It seems very strong.
Now I would like to fix the celluloid. I have sone older celluloid from older accordions that I was planning on harvesting pieces from. Do I soak them in acetone and then just place where I need it? Afterwards I understand I’ll need sand snd go through fiber grits of finishing snd then polishing.
Thanks for any advice

 

[nagant27]

 

[Dingo40]

There are some past threads on this topic

 

[boxplayer4000]

Nagant27
You're on the right track with acetone, celluloid and fine grit emery cloth. Finish with a metal polish such as 'brasso' or some car polishes such as T-cut
Celluloids have evolved over a long time and if possible it is best to get some spare celluloid from the instrument you're
repairing. Quite often there's surplus material turned over inside bass ends etc.

 

[debra]

When an accordion has plain black celluloid my experience is that you can fix it with new celluloid. When I was at Carini in Castelfidardo I bought some scrap pieces of celluloid and have successfully used the black celluloid to repair accordions that are already decades old. The new celluloid bits blend in unnoticeably.

 

[nagant27]

So I tried the celluloid. It came out much better than I expected so far. I mixed a paste of it at first and filled in the gouge. I used a nail to carry it. Then a took a small piece and softened it, and laid it over the top. I filled in a few other areas and cracks with the paste.
The next day I sanded it. I’m going to get some finer grit paper and work through that. I’m at 800 paper now and it actually looks pretty decent.
I appreciate the advice here. I was hesitant to try it but all in all this was a very “doable” repair and we’ll worth it.

 

[debra]

So I tried the celluloid. It came out much better than I expected so far. I mixed a paste of it at first and filled in the gouge. I used a nail to carry it. Then a took a small piece and softened it, and laid it over the top. I filled in a few other areas and cracks with the paste.
The next day I sanded it. I’m going to get some finer grit paper and work through that. I’m at 800 paper now and it actually looks pretty decent.
I appreciate the advice here. I was hesitant to try it but all in all this was a very “doable” repair and we’ll worth it.

When you are at 800 grit that's good enough to move to polishing. I have a coarse and a fine polishing "soap" that I use in sequence. The final result is then already nice and shiny. I then polish some more with a very light abrasive cream for the best possible result.

 

[nagant27]

Ok. Thanks Paul. I will move toward that and not do any more sanding. This has been a very fulfilling repair and I’m more than happy with the results!

 

[nagant27]

One more question. I’m not sure which “soaps you have or what they look like, but I’ve used the novus 3 step polish before. Do you think I could go right to those? Or should I do something else first?

 

[debra]

One more question. I’m not sure which “soaps you have or what they look like, but I’ve used the novus 3 step polish before. Do you think I could go right to those? Or should I do something else first?

I don't know what novus 3 is. I use the products from Carini (in Castelfidardo). This category: http://www.carinidena.it/MS5ECOMMER...FISA'&w_ricsgruppo='80LU'&w_riccateg='8030LU'
lists harder and softer ones. I have one of the darker (coarser) ones and one of the lighter (finer) ones and then also a cream.

 

[danp76]

I have wet sanded or dry sanded celluloid with autobody grade sandpapers and finished with automotive compounds with great results. I have even used body filler to fix voids, cuts and painted and blended over like an automotive paint repair.

 

[nagant27]

Ok then. So I used novus. It’s a 3 step polish process, might actually be for cars, I think it’s good for plastics. I’ve used it on plexiglass before. It worked well- my repairs don’t look perfect but after putting the straps on and the back pad you really don’t notice them much anyway. You would have you look for them to see them. I’m more than happy. I’m gonna look at the carini site and maybe try those next time.

 

[Glug]

You can also use Commandant 4 Cleaner: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Commandant-1830597-C40-Cleaner-No/dp/B00DZGJ2WS

I spotted some accordion manufacturer using it in a video, he wet sanded to 1500 grit and then applied Commandant 4.
Seems to work quite well, and it's cheap.