The PHILCO Phorum

This cabinet has paint on it and some areas are in rough shape. Should I completly strip it down or can I remove the paint without harming the finish? This will be my first cabinet and looking for opinions on what you guys recommend.

NOTE: Edited by site admin to make the photos show up.

I would strip and refinish that one. It looks pretty far gone to me. Sorry to tell you that.

Thanks PuhPow. Side question was you able to see more than the one picture? I tried to put 4 pics up and see there is more in the blue img. box.
Going to start stripping the cabinet today.

Mike,

You'll need to put the IMG code in for each of your images for them to show up.

That will be one nice looking cabinet once its refinished. You should remove those dreaded metal sliders on the bottom of the legs before the damage a floor or two.

I was able to dig one other image url out of his post. The cabinet shows a lot of promise but definitely needs to be stripped and refinished. Also, the grille cloth looks to be in very good condition.

Thank you for the responses, I don't know why I always have trouble with pics. I had individually clicked each img. then hit ctrl-v and they showed up as four seperate imgs in the post so I hit post and seen that only one was viewable. I'll try to get it right next time.
The cabinet is very solid with only a couple small areas that will need veneer work. About that grill cloth. Seems to be a W- pattern. The dark on it is paint any ideas on if it can be removed?
If not I think I'll just live with it because it is in good condition. Oh yeah, the metal sliders will be going away.

Some folks have had success spraying grill cloth with a light coat of spray paint. If it works, it works great. If it doesn't work, you need new cloth. I've tried it with a 50-50 success rate. I only try it as a last resort on a cloth that I am throwing out anyway.

Mike, from what I can see on the grill cloth it just look fine, actually exceptional for the age of the radio. I would carefully remove for the refinish and do nothing other than a gentle vacuuming of it with a soft brush attachment. The stuff is fragile after so many years. Are you certain it is paint and not dirt?
Jerry

Thanks PuhPow And Jerry Hawthorne. I do plan to remove the cloth before stripping the front. I will have to consider my options then. Think it is black spray paint could be wrong I base it on the hit and miss black paint on the cabinet. I don't think you can buy the W pattern. The chevron V is available but I want to keep the orginal if at all possible. I hope I can get more help from you guys as I delve into this. Even though its my first attempt at a cabinet refinish I want it to be as nice as possible.
PS. Thanks site administrator for getting the pics up.

Mohawk makes a spray on cloth cleaner/spot remover. I meant to buy some the last time I was at the refinishing store. I've got a dirty grill cloth on that GE I'm working on. I plan to go back to the store tomorrow, and I'll let you know how it works out.

I sure appreciate that. I plan to order the mohawk toners , blender flowout & no blush tomorrow if it works I'll put it on the list.

Here is a couple pics of the cabinet after two rounds of citristrip. The top has dark spots in it that I treated 4 times with stripper I finally sanded very lightly with 400 grit sand paper but afraid to go any further for fear of sanding through the veneer. Any suggestions on how to remove or should I let them be?

You MIGHT try this: If you can find it, buy some powdered whiting compound at your hdwe. store or paint store. Mix it with water into a consistency similar to paste. Apply to one of those dark spots. Let it dry for 24 hours. Then gently scrape it off. If it has improved, put on a 2nd application. This won't hurt the veneer.

Martin Blankinship suggested that to me several years ago on a Z chairside I redid and it was amazing how it helped. I used 4 applications before my "spots" stopped improving. After toning and refinishing. you must look very carefully to even get a hint of where the dark spots were.

Results may vary!

Caveat: try this on one of the small spots to start with. Let us know if it helps.

Mike

This is what I have used. I bought some at a local ACE hardware. It worked good to remove a dark spot in a solid mohagany cabinet a few years back. I still have a lot if you want to borrow some.

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowne...od-bleach/

Thanks Art Hoch and Skip for the suggestions. And thanks for the offer to borrow some of the product. There is a Sherwin williams close to me Skip,I'll just run down and pick some up.
I also have did another 2 rounds of stripper and will post pics tomorrow. I have some questions about when you know you stripped the cabinet far enough.