Country Telephone Restoration

I am in the process of restoring a country telephone, one of those "crank" style wall-mounted phones.

I have two questions:

What is the best way to clean the finish so that the underlying patina is not destroyed?

And the real tough one. There is a serious crack on the back panel. If this wasn't a true antique (and family heirloom) I would simply cut out the bad section and insert a new piece. HOWEVER, I don't think that would retain the full antique value of the unit. Suggestions?

 

With the crack, it won't retain the full financial value. As you said you are restoring it, perhaps replacing the piece of wood that's cracked will be a good idea.

It's my own opinion that once an antique is "restored" - it's already lost "the full antique value" - and I don't know how much value old country telephones have nowadays to start with?

 

In this instance.........' what she said ! '

 

OK, I am going to disagree here, that is not absolutely true, it depends on the object and it's age.
Indeed, in many/most cases, professional restoration enhances the value of an antique object.
That said, I know nothing about old telephones.

 

Ron didn't mention if he was a professional or not.........???

 

I am guessing he is not but, he did say it was a "family heirloom" so if that's the case and the plan is to keep it, I would take it to a professional. It costs nothing to ask.
That's what I would do, I have no idea what Ron plans to do.

 

In this case - a picture of what the OP is talking about would be very beneficial! One persons "serious crack" is another persons "just glue and clamp it"