Brought a cheap 37-60 front panel $25 to practice refinishing on, since that radio has the decal finish on front. Found that rubbing with non acetone nail polish remover OR (don't laugh) brake cleaner seems to remove the alligator flaking. Or at least melts it slightly so it's not as noticeable. Mineral spirits didn't do anything. Was also trying to transfer flakes to fill in holes..that didn't work. I did make a glue paste from flakes to cover an area. Posted pics. 1st 2 pics are my radio. 3rd picture onwards is of the test panel. Didn't want to ruin my 37-60 trying out stuff. Using 2500 grit sandpaper and the nail polish remover did help a lot on the test panel near the knob.
Be aware that radio uses what we commonly call photofinish, which is a faux finish to make the front panel look like it has multiple veneer inlays. Underneath that faux finish is a very plain, white wood.
Once the photofinish is gone, it's gone forever.
When we have a radio with this type of finish, we try to carefully touch up any flaking areas to preserve as much of the faux finish as possible.
What most do is when looking for a set is choose one that most of the finish is intact. In this case the rest can be touched up something like this:
https://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthrea...hlight=602 If most is gone and you can live with out it painting faux wood grain or using veneers/inlays to recreate the original can be done. A lot of the time the effort the work involved in this venture out paces the worth of the set.
The 1st picture the cabinet is a good candidate for touch on the panel. The crazing can be leveled by using several coats of sanding sealer and block sanding.
The radio was from my father and sat next to my bed for several years in the 1960s. I'm 64 now. I don't collect radios, this one is particularly valuable to me. If I ever get settled down I might start collecting, but like most older people I'd have to find more horizontal spaces in the house to place new stuff. I went and bought some Mohawk color wax sticks a few days ago before your comment. Had seen someone say they could melt different colors of small amounts and mix a filler for the flecked areas. Could send them back (Amazon) when I get them. What do you think? On the process you described, sanding sealer first and then sanding? I've never refinished wood before. What type of sanding sealer (or is there just one type)? Sanding sealer, sand, touch up flecks, more sealer? Could you give me a step by step and comment on use (or not) of wax filler?
I'm just ahead of you as I'm a '56 model. Probably wouldn't use the crayons. Took the Mohawk class a bunch of yrs ago and wasn't impressed with them (crayons). The sanding sealer would be # M-102-0423. Would also get a rubber sanding block Mohawk sales them too.
You'll want to remove the dial bezel. On the older cabinet it's two screws. On the newer one use the palm of your hand and press it in gently. Get it a twist I don't remember which way and the outside ring and glass will come off. Left behind is the a collar held on by several several screws. Remove it. Grille cloth needs to come out too. Remove the 4 spkr screws and carefully remove the cardboard/grille. It may be stuck to the cabinet a little bit. Just be careful that cloth is not being reproduced anymore.
Use a soft cloth and clean the front panel with some oms to get oils and dirt off. Leave it dry. Mask off trim on the front leaving just the panel w/the pf. Your about ready to spray the sanding sealer but if you are doing this outside it's very important that humidity is lower that 60%. If not it's very likely you'll get fogging which is not pretty. Can be corrected by a product called No Blush.
Start off with 3 coats of ss about 1/2 hour to a hour a part. Leave that dry for a day or two before sanding with 400 or 600 w/d sandpaper. The longer it dries the better it sand. The object of sanding is to sand the sealer to level the crazing pf. Not to sand the pf. So ss is used as a filler.
After you get a few coats on it you'll notice that the colors have much more depth. I used water based acrylic paints to match browns on the panel. Started with bright red, bight yellow, and black. The wb acrylics seem to get along well with the lacquer finishes no wrinkling or blistering. It also makes very easy to remove if you don't like it. Just wipe it off. When you layer it between two coats of lacquer it doesn't come off. Color match need to be good and the touch areas should be kept as small a possible. Reread my post on the 37-602 this my fill in some of the blanks.
I cancelled the Mohawk crayon order even before you responded. Figured y'all have been doing refinishing a long time. I assume oms is mineral spirits? The non acetone nail polish remover I was using on the practice panel seemed to flatten out the flaking (fused them) and remove some of the darkness. Don't strangle me, but what's your opinion on using the npr before the sanding sealer?
Yup that would be odorless mineral spirits. The only thing I can think of would be the lacquer may not get along with whatever you are using to reflow the pf. So may it wrinkle or blister when the lacquer is applied over it.
Thanks. I'll test it on the $25 practice front panel that I bought.