[Marsupial]

NOTE from site admin: This topic was split from a thread in the Philco Wanted section. As I felt this was a topic worth preserving, I have moved the posts here to this new thread, since Wanted ads disappear after 30 days.

I cannot seem to manage to find a Canadian supplier of Mohawk toner finish.

So I started to look about getting it online. Mohawk won't ship to Canada. Or at least their website won't permit it.

Are there other good suppliers I could rely on?

I also need to ask about grain filler... do I need to use it? How does it work? I am stripping the radio, it had a nice finish, do I need to fill the grain before toning & finishing? What would be the difference?

I guess I will need some when I add veneer on the radio's shoulder top for sure. Are there lots of difference in grain fillers? there are 3-4 brands locally at the hardware store.

Also... in another thread, you mentionned I need medium wallnut toner, and perfect brown toning lacquer, if I am to make a similar finish to what was factory made.

RadioDaze has this medium brown wallnut
http://www.radiodaze.com/product/1022.aspx

and that perfect brown one
http://www.radiodaze.com/product/1012.aspx

Are those good? I'd be ordering soon if I want to have time before the cold hits and the radio ends up in storage all winter.

[Ron Ramirez]

I am not familiar with the Medium Brown Walnut Ultra Classic. I just looked on Mohawk's website, though, and it appears the Medium Brown Walnut Ultra Classic is very close to the color of Medium Walnut Tone Finish...so I would say you are safe with using it.

[Marsupial]

Thanks a huge lot Ron. I don't think I would have been able to select toner without your help. To be honest, before starting to work on that radio, I didn't even know the existence of toners.

[Marsupial]

Well, bad news.

RadioDaze contacted me saying that Mohawk products cannot be mailed to Canada.

its never easy...

[Ron Ramirez]

Well, crap, that sucks. Have you tried any of the other vendors (Pond Cove Paint, Wood Finishers Store)?

[Marsupial]

We don't have much in term of paint vendors, and the venues available in Canada are different than those in the States.
I will go this week-end to a place that was suggested to me for veneer that seems to specialize in all things wood - their name is Langevin-Forest.

[Marsupial]

Received an answer email from Richelieu Hardware store. They apparently take order for Mohawk products to end-users.

Sounds like great news.

[Marsupial]

How much of aerosol product should I expect to use for a console such as the 47-1230?

I am about to contact them to get one can each of perfect brown and medium walnut, but I wondering if one can of medium walnut will be enough.

[Marsupial]

Just talked to the salesman at Richelieu Hardware and ordered 2 cans of medium brown walnut + 1 can of perfect brown both ultraclassic mohawk toner finish. Should arrive thursday.

[Marsupial]

Look what I finally managed to get!

   

The mailing address states I am a radio restoration company. lol.

[Chuck Schwark]

That's great, but now you have to get busy with them.

As always, 'after' pictures are manditory, or be drummed out
of the Philco Corps.


Chuck

[Marsupial]

of course Chuck. Been wanting to have "finished" pictures of my radio for quite some time now. How long have I been working on that beast? a year?

seasonal daylight and weather already starts to be a problem. back from work in pitch black & snow threats already.
Tonight I want to do some tests with my "new" veneer & the mohawk (for coloration matching), but I hope the week-end's weather will prove cooperative in me making at least the toner.

Questions

1- How long should I have the grain filling set before I can toner?

2- How long should I let toner sets before next layers? (how many layers should I do?)

3- Do I need to wait longer when I change toner color before I spray the contrasting colour?

4- how long do I need to wait after toner before I spray lacquer?

I wouldn't want to cause issues, but it is my first time working with toner. I have experience with spray paint, just not toner.

I plan on final grain filling (still a section to do) on saturday morning, applying the missing veneer not long after, and hope to begin toner saturday afternoon. Can I assume I can be all done this week-end?

[Marsupial]

Well, the good news is that the new veneer is held in place properly and that its coloration will be very similar to the rest of the radio.

The bad news is that I had splatter issues with the toner, not orange peel but not perfect. I think it had to do with the weather being too low, there has been snow in several areas around here.
Trying to resolve the issue only ended up making things worst. I am out of toner and it looks weird. I guess I'll call it done for this season, and re-strip + re-finish in spring.

[Ron Ramirez]

Mars

Darn, I am sorry it did not work out for you. Here are some points to keep in mind next spring:

Lacquers go on best when the temperature is between 70 and 80 degrees F. It can be used in temperatures as low as 60 degrees F, but warmer is better...to a point. If the temperature is 90 or higher, the product starts drying before it all hits the object being sprayed.

Low humidity is also ideal. The higher the humidity, the worse the finish. Mohawk products will "blush" when the humidity is very high. What this means is that the finish will turn a milky white, due to moisture retention. This can be easily corrected with another Mohawk spray can product, No Blush Plus. Just a brief spritz of No Blush Plus and the milkiness immediately goes away.

The proper use of spray lacquer is a learned art. The good news is that it is easy to learn how to spray Mohawk lacquer. Next spring, buy a sacrificial can of Mohawk toner and use it to practice on a junk cabinet or scrap wood, until you get used to the technique which involves keeping the can moving back and forth rapidly, and applying multiple light coats instead of a few heavy coats to avoid runs.

[Marsupial]

Thanks a lot for the tips Ron!
I knew the weather today was not ideal, cold and almost rainy.
The thing is that this fall is rather cold and it took forever to get products here up north.
My thinking had been "better now than next week, it'll be even worst!"
Well, that's what I got.

But it got me a practice run and the radio is no longer unprotected. Now that I know where/how to get toner, it will be a pleasure to redo it properly. It is already better than other radios I have seen on eBay, but not to my satisfaction. I decided to wait simply because it makes more sense than trying to rush against weather (that won't get any warmer soon) and because I prefer finishing it properly. It was almost perfect after the first layer ad I think having a bit more experience with toner would have made a difference, but when things don't turn out as planned, sometimes it is better to take a step back instead if trying something illogical... my first toughts were to "finish it before its too cold" but really it makes no sense.
I was tempted to get another can of medium brown and patch things up, but I know it will be visible and bug me... So better do it properly and be done with it. I have been working on "my" console for over a year now, what's a few more months?