Dumont RA-103 Project Redux

[Chris K]

Very small staples maybe 1/8th of an inch across the top. I’ll give it a shot

[Electronic M]

Sometimes you can pull staples with a good pair of needle nose pliers...

[Chris K]

Got them out. They were closer to wire brads than staples. Trying some CitriStrip so I don't stink up the house!

[Chris K]

Quick update...CitriStrip didn't do squat in 30 minutes but I'm not giving up on it. As per instructions, I spread it on thick all over the cabinet side and covered it with Saran Wrap so it doesn't dry out overnight. We'll see in the morning how it does. If it's not up to what I want, I bought a can of the real stuff full of neurologic toxins but guaranteed to strip off the finish!

[bandersen]

I'm really surprised. Shold start dissolving that lacquer finish immediately. 30 minutes should be more than enough. I wonder if it's old? Works on everything including poly, but is a bit of a mess to clean up. Assuming that is original finish, acetone or lacquer thinner should work very well. No need for strippers.

[Chris K]

I removed the stripped out gear attached to the dial that came with my tuner. I discovered these gears are not brass but a hard phenolic. Perhaps Dumont chose to do that to protect the tuner from over rotation as the teeth would strip out before damage was done to the ceramics in the tuner? I don't know. Through some grinding, drilling, prying and a bit of epoxy, I was able to get the broken gear off my dial, the good gear off the counterclockwise dial and mounted on my dial. We'll see if it works once the epoxy cures. Phenolic gears...that's a new one for me!



Good gear off the wrong dial


Gear transferred and glued to my TV's dial

[Chris K]

Originally Posted by bandersen

I'm really surprised. Shold start dissolving that lacquer finish immediately. 30 minutes should be more than enough. I wonder if it's old? Works on everything including poly, but is a bit of a mess to clean up. Assuming that is original finish, acetone or lacquer thinner should work very well. No need for strippers.

CitriStrip is new. Just bought it. I don't want to use lacquer thinner in quantity on this unless I can do it outside. If I need to go to the killer stripper, I'll do that outside.

[Chris K]

CitriStrip overnight worked OK but it was a real mess to clean up and even out the color. Just not worth it to me. Went back to the scraper. I wouldn't say it's quick work but it gets it off safely. This finish is THICK!!!

[Chris K]

Got 89% of it stripped and lightly sanded. As far as I can tell there's no sand throughs of the veneer. There's some pretty tough glue holding in the dial glass. Yes, it's the same laminated safety glass the CRT has in front of it. The CRT safety glass was held in by the same glue that had lost its adhesion but the dial glass is on there to stay. I'll try some heat first I guess.

[Chris K]

Finished the weekend by putting color on the Dumont. It'll lighten up once it's dry. I'll give it 5 days then move it into the spray booth. Best thing I did for my guitars, furniture builds and now, vintage TV cabinet restorations was building one in my shop. Filtered air in and overspray out. Eliminated dust as a concern in my finishes.





And what could be better than watching the final round of The Masters on my 1950 Admiral while working on it?

[bandersen]

Looks like you used stain? Old school way is shellac sealer, toner lacquer, grain filler then clear coat. Opaque toner on the trim to get even color and good contrast.

Not meant to criticize just giving some advice.

[Chris K]

Originally Posted by bandersen

Looks like you used stain? Old school way is shellac sealer, toner lacquer, grain filler then clear coat. Opaque toner on the trim to get even color and good contrast.

Not meant to criticize just giving some advice.

No no problem. Appreciate the advice!

[Chris K]

It won’t need grain filler. Scraping the finish left behind a surface with the grain filled. This is just first color application. I’m going to wool it down with 0000 steel wool and then hit it with a waterborne lacquer I use with a water soluble red mahogany dye mixed in. If that gives me what I want with color and tone, then I’ll spray on 2-3 coats of clear. I’ll probably put the decals on before the clear coats. You ask 100 woodworkers how to put color and finish on you’ll get 100 different protocols! One question Bob, what level of gloss did these TVs have coming out of the factory? I can’t imagine a high gloss finish but what’s left of the finishes on most of the wood cabinet TVs I’ve gotten look pretty glossy!

[bandersen]

High gloss nitrocellulose lacquer but the higher end sets would have a hand rubbed finish which knocks down the sheen. I use rottenstone or fine pumice and a felt block followed by wax.

[Chris K]

Originally Posted by bandersen

High gloss nitrocellulose lacquer but the higher end sets would have a hand rubbed finish which knocks down the sheen. I use rottenstone or fine pumice and a felt block followed by wax.

Got it...thank you so much!