Quote:
Originally Posted by Old1625
It would appear that someone had a few tee many martoonis, and decided to paint the blistering and finish-eroded veneer on this job.  Gad I hate it when people do this... 
If this radio were mine it would prove tempting to say "let's not lie about this radio's own history, and simply fill in and smooth out the missing veneer and leave it black. 
Such procedure--while perhaps heretic in nature in some antique radio people's philosophy--would certainly be cheaper of time and money than the stripping-down of all that junky paint, and inlaying or entirely re-veneering all that cabinetry.
Whatever you decide to do....good luck in the project, and I hope all goes well.  |
today I tried using a spray-on remover from a can. It barely worked. So I went back and picked up a gallon of Crown Paint & Varnish remover at Lowes. I started to also pick up a gallon of mineral spirits, but thought I already had some. I didn't. so I took out a 3" brush, poured out a bunch of the remover into a metal container and painted it on all the bottom half of the radio. I did this twice, and a great deal of the gunk has come off.
Actually, it looks worse that before I started, but that is normal. Tomorrow, if it doesn't rain, I will remove all the inside guts, including the speaker and baffle board. I'll also get rid of the worn old grill cloth, and then give the bottom half another good coat.
Then I will take the Scotch brite brillo and dip it in mineral spirits, and rub out any gunk left. What is probably going to give me the most work is all the trim around the bottom and front. But I will keep it up until I finish. It's really not all that bad, just time consuming.
I will also remove the bad face plate, bad buttons, and order a new set from one of several places I have on file. One of the moderators over at
the Philco Phorum[/u] sent me a pdf file containing all the preset radio stations that I have already printed out, and will use to add to the console once I replace all the hardware.
I noticed that there was also a chip out of the front right round corner, halfway down, and will have to have a small piece of walnut placed in there. Matching it may be a problem, so I will take a piece from around the already bad part on the right rear, because it all comes from the same tree. Then I will take another new piece of walnut and fill in the back portion, and not worry all that much about an exact match, since it will be harder to notice.
If I can get it all stripped by this weekend, I will clean it up nicely, and fine-sand it down. Then I will seal it with Super-Blond shellac, although I haven't decided on the finish yet. But one thing is certain: it will not be with all that old fashioned coloured dark finish. It completely ruins the wood grain. I simply don't know what they were thinking about back then.