[Ron Ramirez]

Fall is here and it will soon be too cold to spray lacquer in most parts of the country. So I've been hurrying the past few days to try and get a Philco 44B cabinet redone before the weather gets too cool here for spraying lacquer.

I thought I would present a day by day report on how I have been slowly bringing this cabinet back from near ruin, for your amusement.

So without further ado, here we go...

Monday, October 18.

As so often happens when I start on a large project, I forgot to take any "before" pictures.

Actually, I have a "before" photo, of sorts...

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_034.jpg]

Look behind and to the left of the 40-130, and you will see the 44B cabinet.

A closer look:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_035.jpg]

This 44B had peeling and bubbling veneer on the top and sides, veneer issues on the front arch, and delaminating veneer in the grillework of the front panel. You can see a large bubble in the front arch veneer in this photo. Also, it is evident that a fair amount of veneer is missing from the left grillebar.

This is an early 44B with an inset front panel, not the more common later 44B with a flat face.

The first thing I did was to remove the old veneer from the top and sides. 99% of it came off easily; a couple stubborn spots prevented it from coming off 100% easily. If it had, I would have reglued the original veneer back onto the cabinet.

The owner of this cabinet furnished new veneer for the top and sides; this veneer had a self-adhesive backing. I had never applied any veneer like this before, nor had I ever applied veneer to the entire top and sides of a cathedral cabinet.

This should be an interesting challenge...

[Ron Ramirez]

Tuesday, October 19.

I realized that the only way to repair the front panel was to remove it from the cabinet. Philco not only used several screws to hold the panel inside the cabinet, but they also glued it in, so it was rather difficult to remove and some veneer pieces were left inside the cabinet once the panel broke loose. I reglued those veneer pieces where they show, left off the pieces that will not show.

I had bought an old iron at a yard sale the previous weekend for 50 cents. I intended to use it to assist me in regluing the veneer to the front panel and the front arch. I learned about this trick from watching a video made by "Hagstar" John H.:

http://hagstar.phanfare.com/slideshow.as...id=3128328

Using the iron turned out the be extremely helpful to me in repairing this cabinet. I am sure that without it, I would still be gluing veneer to the front panel and/or the front arch. The heat of the iron made the glue (I used Titebond II wood glue) set up very quickly, so I could get more done faster.

Here's how the 44B cabinet body looked after veneer repairs were complete on the front arch:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_001.jpg]

I had to replace a piece of veneer on one of the grille bars, and some substrate in the grillework. It was a lot of work gluing all of the pieces together, sort of like putting together a puzzle and having to make some missing pieces of the puzzle as I went along.

A picture of the front panel after veneer repair:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_012.jpg]

With some trepidation, after doing extensive veneer repairs to the grillework on the front panel and to the front arch, I applied the new veneer to the top and sides. It turned out pretty well. I was left with a few small bubbles, which I was not happy about. I discovered that use of a hot iron made the bubbles press out. (Unfortunately, I found out the next day that a couple small bubbles remained which did not show until I sealed the cabinet with shellac.)

Here's a couple photos of the top and sides of the cabinet body with the new veneer:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_003.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_004.jpg]

[Ron Ramirez]

Wednesday, October 20.

Today, after sanding, I stained the main body of the cabinet because the new veneer was so much lighter than the rest of the radio. I also found, to my dismay, that where I had to replace veneer on the front grillework did not take the same color as the rest of the front panel when I attempted to apply toner to the front panel. So, I stained the new veneer to darken it.

Two photos of the 44B cabinet body after the application of stain:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_005.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_009.jpg]

I then set everything aside to dry until Thursday. Things should start moving pretty quickly from this point forward.

[Ron Ramirez]

Thursday, October 21.

First, I sealed the main body of the cabinet with shellac to seal in the oil stain that was used.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_013.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_015.jpg]

Next, I turned to the front panel. Having stained the piece of veneer that did not match the rest of the panel yesterday, I sprayed toner again - and the color came out evenly! I think the panel has a bit too much toner now, but the color is nice and even. It appears that the Mohawk Medium Dark Walnut has a lot more pigment than the Medium Walnut has. Lesson learned for next time - apply the Medium Dark Walnut very sparingly.

After the toner dried on the front panel, I lightly sanded it and then gave it three coats of clear Deft.

Here's how the front panel looks now:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_022.jpg]

I will have to redrill the holes for the lower speaker screws in the grillebars once the refinishing is complete.

The next move was to give the cabinet a very light sanding to prepare it for Medium Walnut toner. This was followed by the actual application of Medium Walnut toner. I had forgotten my spray technique as it has been at least two years since I sprayed any lacquer on a cabinet, and I caused a couple of runs on the first coat. So I let the cabinet dry, and sanded the runs out. I then gave the whole thing another coat of toner. Unlike the Medium Dark Walnut, the Medium Walnut does not have a lot of pigment, so you can apply more coats without losing the woodgrain.

I ended up putting two coats of Medium Walnut toner on the front, and four on the top/sides as this part was still lighter than the front due to the new veneer. The sides look really nice now, and the front looks pretty good also.

The cabinet body after application of toner:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_020.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_021.jpg]

These photos make the cabinet look much redder than it really is.

My plan is to lightly sand the front panel tomorrow, then spray one coat of clear. I will then apply the PHILCO decal, and follow that with two more coats of clear. The front panel will then be finished. I will also put the bottom molding back on the sides of the cabinet body tomorrow, or Saturday before I begin spraying it again.

On Saturday, I will mask off the cabinet body and apply Extra Dark Walnut to the cabinet trim. Once that dries, I will remove the masking and begin spraying clear.

By Saturday evening, I hope to have the cabinet all finished.

I've enjoyed this so far. It's been a learning (and re-learning) experience.

[Ron Ramirez]

Friday, October 22.

Not such a good day today in terms of cabinet progress...

Realizing that good weather was winding down, and after hearing the forecast call for a slight chance of rain Saturday, I decided to mask off the 44B cabinet trim to be toned Extra Dark Walnut.

First. I reattached the bottom trim to the left and right sides. The trim pieces still had some of the old veneer glued to them; in order to get the veneer off, I literally had to whittle some of it off. Once this was done, the trim pieces were reattached to the cabinet.

Using painter's masking tape and some newspaper, I carefully masked off the cabinet so only the trim was showing, as shown below:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_024.jpg]

Three coats of Extra Dark Walnut later, the trim was all a uniform dark color.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_025.jpg]

So far, so good.

Or so I thought.

After letting the cabinet dry for awhile, I removed the tape and newspaper.

I was shocked to find that the tape had left a lot of residue behind!

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_026.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_027.jpg]

What appears to be heavy scratchiness and scuffs in the photos above is actually tape residue.

The day was ruined. I was afraid the cabinet was ruined as well. In disgust, I quit working on it for the day.

That evening, I did some internet research on how to remove tape adhesive from lacquer finishes. The one product that was mentioned most often was naptha.

I resolved to find some naptha the next day and try it.

[Ron Ramirez]

Saturday, October 23.

SUCCESS!

I went to a local hardware store and found one can of naptha. Yes, literally the last can they had on the shelf. I was running out of clear Deft also, so I needed more clear lacquer. I decided to take a chance on a brand I had never heard of - Premium Decor.

Armed with these products, I took the cabinet back out to the garage, along with the naptha and an old rag.

I was amazed - the naptha easily removed the residue! See the following two photos and compare them to the two photos above which show the residue.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_028.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_029.jpg]

Boy, was I relieved!

I did notice that the tape actually ate into the lacquer in a few spots. So after cleaning with naptha, I carefully went over the entire cabinet with 0000 steel wool, after which I went over the entire cabinet with a rag to get rid of all of the steel wool residue.

Before I began to spray the cabinet with the new clear Premium lacquer, I conducted a test on a piece of scrap wood. I sprayed some Mohawk Medium Walnut on the wood, let it dry a while, then sprayed a little Premium clear lacquer on it. All seemed well.

So...I began to spray the cabinet body with Premium clear lacquer.

I gave it three coats and declared it finished.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_030.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_031.jpg]

Prior to spraying the final coats of lacquer on the cabinet body, I applied a PHILCO decal to the front panel, after which I sprayed two more coats of clear Deft.

I'll post a photo of the finished panel later, along with the complete cabinet once I reassemble it.

According to the latest weather forecast for this area, the rain is supposed to start tomorrow and continue through Thursday; and then the high on Friday is only supposed to be 58. So, I am glad that job is complete! And, quite possibly, just in time before the temperatures start going down, also.

[Ron Ramirez]

Here are two quick photos, not the best quality due to poor lighting conditions.

First, here is the finished front panel, with the PHILCO decal and the holes for the speaker screws redrilled in the grillebars.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_032.jpg]

Second, a quick shot of the reassembled cabinet. The front panel inexplicably looks lighter here than it actually is.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_033.jpg]

I did not use any glue when I reinstalled the front panel, only the original screws. That will make it easier for the next person, should it need to be disassembled 77 years hence.

[Snowmann35]

Thanks for the detailed info Ron, very appreciated!!!

[Glenn Roberts]

Ron,
Looks great!! Thanks for the tips on the Mohawk products. I was wondering about colors. I have a 610 I'm going to start after the 41-300 this will help alot.

Glenn

[Ron Ramirez]

Thanks, guys.

Here are a few final photos of this cabinet showing it completely reassembled, with escutcheon.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_036.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_037.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...44_038.jpg]

[Ron Ramirez]

Some final thoughts about this project:

The cherry veneer furnished to me for this project looks very nice with walnut stain and Medium Walnut toner, even if the grain is running in the wrong direction. However, if I ever have to do a project like this again, I would prefer to use veneer that is not self-adhesive. Instead, I would use veneer that has no adhesive on it and glue it on with a good coating of Titebond II wood glue between the veneer and substrate. I would use the iron to make the glue set up quickly and to help press out any air bubbles.

I am still a novice when it comes to cabinet refinishing. I would like to learn how to get that smooth piano finish without the pores showing. I am aware that a good way to do this is to use filler, but I still don't know what kind of product to buy for this purpose.

I'm not so sure high gloss lacquer was the best choice for this project; satin or semi-gloss would have been better, I believe. Certainly, I was working against the possibility of having no more warm days in 2010, and so I grabbed what I found in the local hardware store to get the job done - and all they had was high gloss lacquer. As it turned out, it rained very early this morning here but has not rained since, and the temperature is around 80 as I type this. Plus, it is not going to get as cool later this week as was originally forecast. So there was no need to rush after all. But at least the project is finished.

[exray]

I would like to learn how to get that smooth piano finish without the pores showing. I am aware that a good way to do this is to use filler, but I still don't know what kind of product to buy for this purpose..

There's lots of products out there but this is what I use.
http://www.constantines.com/pastewoodfiller.aspx

Constantine's has created confusion by naming this as 'wood filler' when its actually 'grain' filler as opposed to plain wood filler like Famowood that you use to fill in nail holes and missing chunks.

Reminds me that I need to buy a fresh can

-Bill

[Ron Ramirez]

Thanks, Bill. I'll definitely look into the Constantine's wood filler. I am hoping to get a few of my own cabinets refinished next year.

[Steve Davis]

Ron, I am amazed at how well you were able to blend in the patch on the front arch. Looks nice. I was going to post something about that particular piece of news paper you used to mask off the sides of the cabinet, but I remembered that political post are not allowed. Seems like a fitting end though.
Steve

[Uffda]

The earlier shots looked pretty glossy, but those last pics look great. How the heck would you do the non-stick veneer on a cathedral? I'm guessing you would glue, clamp and iron one vertical, then half the arch at a time, then opposite vertical. Or do you glue and clamp the whole sheet at once, then iron between the clamps? How long do you leave the clamps on if you iron?


Here is a caution from 3M concerning using blue tape on lacquer:

" What type of paints or coatings does ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape work with?

ScotchBlue Painter'€™s Tape works well with most water-based paints and coatings, such as acrylic, urethane, vinyl latex and enamels. It also works well with many solvent-based coatings alkalyds, varnishes, most enamels and some polyurethanes. In addition, ScotchBlue Painter'€™s Tape works well with plaster, glazes, textures and metallics used in faux and decorative painting.

However, be careful when working with lacquers & nitrocellulose-based lacquers react with the adhesive composition on many painter'€™s tapes, seemingly bonding the tape with the lacquer, making it impossible to remove. Before you start, make sure the tape you choose can be used with lacquers &€“ higher adhesion levels such as tan masking tapes are a better choice for this particular use, because their adhesive does not react with the lacquer in this way."

I wonder if the polypropylene automotive tapes would work well?