[bridkarl]

Thanks. It looks like you are using tape or a strap. I think you'll get better results with some clamps and a piece of board. I got a whole set of clamps at Harbor Freight for $15.

[jrblasde]

Depending on the shape and size of the piece I’m gluing, I alternate between the strap or clamps with wooden boards. The strap shown in the photo is actually holding the console tight while an internal joint sets; a few of the internal joints were loose. Tonight I strictly clamped the veneer work. But it’s a great point to mention!

[bridkarl]

I need to get some straps. I've just been using bar clamps which are not a good option for veneering on a curve - which I need to do soon. Did you just get those at Harbor Freight or are they some special kind.

[radiorich]

Hello bridkarl,
you can buy one like this I have one like this made by pony
Sincerely Richard

POWERTEC Adjustable Band Clamp for Woodworking - 15 ft. Adjustable Strap Clamp with Ratcheting Handle, Non-Marring Corners, 1000 lbs Capacity, 1 PK (72071) - Amazon.com

[jrblasde]

Here we are, with the new patches firmly dried in place and the excess removed. I think it was worth the rework with this quarter sawn veneer! The color is still not as red as the original, but I’ve got some wood dye to remedy that. 

   

[bridkarl]

That's excellent. Maybe someday my skills get to that level.

[jrblasde]

It's been a couple of months since I've gotten to touch this console, but I'm back! I think I mentioned on a different thread that my wife and I bought our house last year. This year we were finally able to replace the windows. Our home was built in 1957 and still had the original windows. While those older, wooden window frames and sashes are arguably the most beautiful, ours were not salvageable. Most of the windows had been painted shut, the wood was soft and rotted in various areas, and the windows were extremely energy inefficient. We got them replaced, and fortunately the rot was contained only to the windows--the structural wood underneath was fine! After the windows were installed, I then began repainting all the new interior and exterior trim. In fact, I ended up repainting the entire interior of our house. Everything (the walls, trim, ceilings, cabinets) were a flat white, and it was impossible to keep it clean looking (particularly the trim; NEVER use flat white on trim). I went with a semi-gloss white for the trim, and we chose various earth tones for the rooms (an eggshell "pure earth" brown for the living room and hallway, an eggshell "muted sage" green for the dining room and kitchen, an eggshell "red curry" red for the office, an eggshell "dark storm cloud" blue for the two bedrooms, and a satin "creamy mushroom" tan color for the bathrooms). In addition to that, I had the help of a coworker to build a new six-foot privacy fence along the north wall of our back yard. We used to have a chain-link fence, and last year we had two thirty-foot trees cut down which were growing through the fence line (that was a project of it's own, last October, because no tree company would touch the two stumps with that chain-link fence running through the middle of them; I burned through thirteen chainsaw chains to finally cut the portion of the stumps with the fencing out, so that a stump grinding guy would agree to finish the rest of it). We had those trees cut down because one was splitting and the other had large branches laying on our house and the neighbor's house. Since that portion of the fence was sacrificed last fall, we needed to replace the fence.

This last week I finally returned my attention to the Philco cabinet restoration. I finished a couple of other small veneer repairs, and then yesterday I got the cabinet out to my garage to strip it of its finish. Honestly, I've never seen such a crackling and flaky top coat! My plan now is to address a couple of other small repairs which are now apparent, and then I'm going to use a two-part wood bleach on it so that the new veneer patches match the old veneer in color before I start refinishing it. I had tested this two-part bleach on the top panel that I re-veneered earlier this year, and I found that it did an excellent job of removing the purple-grey tones of newer walnut veneer. That tone fades over time with UV exposure, but I need the new veneer to match the original before I refinish.

[jrblasde]

At this point I’ve bleached the entire console. I did two cycles of the treatment, two days apart. After that I neutralized the dried bleach with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and distilled water.

Tonight I brought the console into my office, under a bright daylight colored light. I used a mixture of amber wood dye and dark antique maple wood dye to start color matching the veneer patches. I made a very dilute mixture—four drops of amber and two drops of dark antique maple in roughly a cup of water. I applied it and let it dry. I still wasn’t quite satisfied, as it was missing just a bit of redness. So I thinned out some red chestnut stain with mineral spirits and brushed it on. Once it dried, I then used a bit of 320 grit sand paper to lightly remove the excess until I was satisfied that the veneer patches match closely enough. I feel that, by the time I stain and apply toner to the entire cabinet, I’ll have a consistent coloring. I will need to be certain to saturate the splice lines with pre-stain, so that they don’t wick up any excess stain. I’ll probably need to blend the grain with a few of those wood-colored wax crayons as well, so as to better conceal the splices.

   

   

   

[jrblasde]

This evening I gave the same dilute wood dye and thinned-out stain treatment to the new veneer on top of the shoulders and on the curved panel where the dial is housed. Bit by bit, it’s all starting to look like one consistent color! These panels originally matched the lower walnut in color, not the upper maple; that’s how I plan to refinish it. 

   

[jrblasde]

Today I stained and toned the top and the walnut portion of the sides. It was tedious, but I made progress. 

   

I’m not happy with the left side, though. I must have had some kind of residue on the cabinet, because the toner turned out splotchy. I’ve stripped that area, and this week I’ll try it again after making sure to clean the panel.

   

[radiorich]

Hello Joseph,
What did you use after stripping it to clean off anythin left from the stripper ?
Sincerely Richard

[jrblasde]

I used mineral spirits to clean it after stripping. After giving it some thought, I believe I can identify two reasons for that panel turning out so poorly:

1. I had sanded a bit of wood filler just before the finishing work, so I wiped that panel down with mineral spirits very soon before finishing. 
   
2. It wasn’t looking right from the onset, so I likely overcorrected it and worsened the splotchiness of the toner.
   

Anyway, we’ll give it another go this week! Maybe tonight.

[Joe Rossi]

Wish I had your talent.  This is a great looking radio, and a very instructive post.  Thanks, Joe

[jrblasde]

Thank you, Joe! That’s very kind. I like to share the successes and the failures. The woodworking does not come easily to me like the electrical work does, but I feel that I learn useful tricks with each new radio and the results continuously improve. I certainly owe many thanks to a handful of folks here on the Phorum. It seems that majority of us here or more electrically inclined, but there are a handful with woodworking and refinishing expertise.

If anything, I’m simply patient enough to find my way through each cabinet restoration! 

[jrblasde]

A little (or rather, a lot!) of staining, toning, and blending later and I have the left side panel finished and all three are matching. Here are the results, in outdoor daylight:

   


   

   

And here it is, back inside to fully cure. The indoor lightning is certainly more forgiving of any variations in color. Overall, I’m happy with it! It’s darn near impossible to match new wood to old, much less to stain it evenly.