Posted 6 years ago
TLaney66
(2 items)
Hi. Im trying to find information about this trunk. When made? Is it rare? Can you all help me decide if I should try to remove the paint from this trunk? It's in really good shape besides the paint. I'm not experienced in knowing how to refinish and I'm not sure if it's possible to remove the paint without ruining the trunk. It's labeled M. MAIER CO. THANKS EVERYONE.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Maier for something about the company. Excellent collectible high end name. Judging by the multitude of all the nail head through out, I would be pretty sure this is a vulcanized covered trunk as well as the edging. It is a very tough material. For me if I had this trunk I would start with a very mild stripper which I have used on painted coke cases which only is strong enough to work on the surface paint and I was able to completely keep the original yellow color and printing underneath. I was quite surprised myself using it for the first time. I knew that a poly stripper will eat and go deep to the foundation so I moved to something not so strong. I would start on the underside to get your bearings as to how much time it takes to work the surface paint and some coarse Brillo pad or steal wool as these are airy and open and will allow the paint to be embedded into either verse a fine or medium which will push the paint around if you get my drift. you can use a scraper but with all those nail heads you will snag up a lot so not as good as a Brillo or coarse steal wool and follow after, but at the same time, with some rags which you can dip in the mild stripper and wipe after the fact. It shouldn't take much pressure just more of a skimming wipe motion with the briilo o r wool, you will get the feel once you start and work a small area say 6" x 6" and I watch the time, just occasionally scraping it with my finger nail to see when it really is getting down. If it seems to hit the mark after 2 minutes then you will know thats your time frame and you can expand to a larger area, etc. Once the paint is gone and it doesn't have to be 100%. As it is vulcanized you can sand it with a different Brillo type pad. Greendog has a vulcanized trunk in his listing ( orange and black ) and gives a good explanation of where and how to go from there in the comment section. Well worth finding it for a read. he knows what he is doing as you will see.
also juding by the scrap marks showing the color underneath it is not a very thick paint in fact looks pretty thin. You could even see how with some mild effort with straight steal wool or brillo affects the paint first before a stripper. With out actually having it in my hands It is hard to say which way to go but test the underside first dry and if that does n't work then mild stripper.
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/247444-early-1900s-langmuir-trunk