[rfeenstra]

I finished the chassis on this radio several months ago and decided it was time for it to find its home in the cabinet.  So, cabinet restoration begins.  this cabinet had been stripped before I got it so I have no idea of its original colors except for a bit of toner that was left on the back side of the louvers.  Quite dark and brown.  Do these photos give a good indication of the original finish?

       

[Ron Ramirez]

Anything you see in back of the cabinet is the typical flat, darkish brown Philco used inside all of their cabinets. You know, like Zenith used blue, and some 1937 RCA sets used silver. It is not an indicator of how the outside of the cabinet should look.

If using rattle cans (as I do), I think I would use Mohawk Medium Walnut overall.

[rfeenstra]

Thanks Ron.  I do use rattle cans for the toner.  I hate it when they spit, though!  I may mix up toner for this project.  A lot of area to cover.  So the really dark brown is probably from spraying the inside of the cabinet.  Good to know!  Are the 2 pics I included a reasonable example of what to shoot for?  I saw one photo of a cabinet that had been converted to a guitar speaker.  They claimed it was original finish.  It was photographed  in the sun and was really red.  Far more red than anything I've seen except when I use a flash!

[rfeenstra]

A lot of the "white" wood on this thing is highly distressed - full of dents that I need to fill. Will the normal toner (not the transparent Classic toner) be opaque enough to cover the filler? I've never used it before.

[Ron Ramirez]

Mohawk Medium Walnut Tone Finish is not like their other Tone Finish colors - it maintains its transparency to a good degree (that is, unless you apply lots of coats of the stuff). Two or three light coats are usually enough.

I would try to use filler that is as close to the color of the wood as possible in the dents. But first, here's a thought: Try a damp rag and an old iron on those dents. You might be surprised how many you can get to pop back out. It doesn't always work nor does it always work completely, but I once had a 41 or 42-22CL that was badly scratched/gouged on the right side of the radio dial. After I tried the damp rag/iron method, almost all of the gouges disappeared. Of course that was veneer and not solid wood so that may make a difference. Russ (Phlogiston) could better advise you on that than I. Paul Buresh (Paul Philco322) now owns that 42-22CL.

One more thing. Mohawk sells special nozzles that you can adjust for a horizontal or a vertical spray pattern. These make a yuuuge difference in spraying Mohawk toners. It makes the job turn out MUCH better than using the standard conical spray pattern of the nozzles that come with the cans. Since you will be spraying a console, this could make the difference between a good job and a poor job.

[rfeenstra]

Thank you!!

[Ron Ramirez]

Oops, missed this previously...

Are the 2 pics I included a reasonable example of what to shoot for?

Yes. As long as you don't go overboard with the Medium Walnut, it should turn out the same color as that, or very close to it.

[Paul Philco322]

The clock radio from Ron sits on my 45L near the front entrance of our home. It is a looker. I knew a guy in Western Mass. who taught industrial arts in High School for many years, the wood shop guy. He was very into radio resto for a while and did beautiful cabinets. Mr. Bob Latino was also a nice fellow. He told me with a certain amount of glee once about the Iron and Damp cloth method, indicating he had great luck with it and solved many bad cabinets with it. I would say give it a try. 

If you ever would like to see pretty radios you can see some of his work...........

https://radioattic.com/all_my_sales.htm?seller=43

Resolution not too good on the master page, click on a set it gets much better. He has been quiet for ten years in the hobby and I hope he is OK. Sorry for meandering off topic. 
Paul

[rfeenstra]

Thanks Ron. Paul, I happened on that site some time back. A lot of radios get sold through that site!

[nortonz]

I have this model I restored last year, turned out well

[attachment=20342][attachment=20343]

I’m still working on the chassis, I’ve replaced all the caps, now trying to find a tube tester to finish.

[rfeenstra]

Thank you! It looks like you opted to leave the wood natural. I have enough damage to need to tone the white wood darker to hide the repairs.

[nortonz]

You should have seen it when I first bought it.

[attachment=20364][attachment=20365][attachment=20366]The 

It took a lot of work to get it to look like that.

[rfeenstra]

Oh wow!  That's beat up sorta like mine.  Thank you for that pic. It's another example of the the original tone of the cabinet.  It helps me greatly. Your dial was trashed! Good job.

[rfeenstra]

So here's where I'm at.  final coats of lacquer have been applied.  I'll wait a few weeks for it to completely dry and cure (using pre-cat lacquer).  I have a couple of small runs to sand out and then finish sand with wet 400, 600, 1200, and maybe 2000 grit paper.  Then rub out with polishing compound.  A freakin lot of work!

The white wood has lots of filler to fill dents so it was toned with a light color, opaque toner to hide the repairs, then toned with Medium Brown Walnut and VanDyke brown.  It may be a bit darker than original but all my less than professional repairs are hidden.  Grain filler was Mohawk walnut sealed with EZvinyl sealer.  Then mohawk sanding sealer. Then semi-gloss pre-cat lacquer.  The walnut top and sides have only a very tiny bit of medium walnut toner, otherwise it is the color of the wood after the grain filler was applied after a wash coat of sealer.  The diffusers are easy to remove so they were finished separately from the cabinet.

I have a really hard time with the rattle cans of toner.  I can't get an even color.  This cabinet is practice for an EH Scott I need to refinish so I've learned that I may need to mix my own toner and spray with a gun for a more even color.

           

[nortonz]

It,s looking really good, I like the darker color, may have to redo mine. Well see I still have two other cabinets to refinish. But yours looks great. Thanks for sharing.