Picked up a 612a cabinet

[Kercher]

So I found a 612a Iconic style cabinet on the local CL. It's black paint job is pretty dusty, dirty and scratched up. It was first installed in a radio station ~1950. The guy who sold it only wanted the 604b that was in there. I was thinking of sanding it down and repainting it after building another box to match. I plan on trying them out with my 604c's. I know that a lot of old things are worth more cleaned up but kept original. I don't know if this is one of those things. What do you think, should I refinish it or just clean it up?
Thanks,
Dan

[Audio_by_Goodwill]

So I found a 612a Iconic style cabinet on the local CL. It's black paint job is pretty dusty, dirty and scratched up. It was first installed in a radio station ~1950. The guy who sold it only wanted the 604b that was in there. I was thinking of sanding it down and repainting it after building another box to match. I plan on trying them out with my 604c's. I know that a lot of old things are worth more cleaned up but kept original. I don't know if this is one of those things. What do you think, should I refinish it or just clean it up?

Clean it up and see what it looks like..... then go from there. You may want to buy a lead test kit before you start sanding anything. If you do end up wanting to repaint you could roll right over the lead paint with some good primer..... many times sealing it in enough for it to be safe...... not that I'm any kind of authority on such things.

[GM]

Prepping lead based paints: eLCOSH : Painters Prepping Lead-Paint Surfaces: Researchers Find that Half-Mask Respirators do Not Protect Enough for Hand Sanding or Conventional Power Sanding

[Kercher]

Thanks for the tip. I hadn't even thought about lead in the paint. I've seen some of the older 612 utility cabs had a kind of metal mesh for the grill cloth. Does anyone know a source for that?
Dan

[hmolwitz]

I was wondering where my brain went, I must have sucked up a ton of lead grinding off houses in the Northeast here in my youth.
Harry