[Radioroslyn]

If you really wanted to get rid of those pits Mohawk makes a filler for it. It's called a burn in stick. You use a tool that is like a soldering iron with a flat blade on it. The burn in stick it self is a piece of colored resin that you use the hot tool to melt this resin into the pits. It sand easily and can be covered with lacquer with no problem.
Keep up the great work !!!!
Terry

[Jamie]

Any updates?

[Geoff]

I want to do this right and got a little frustrated with some of the mistakes I made so I stepped away from it for awhile. Plus, things have gotten really busy at work so I really haven't had the time. No matter. I'll be diving back into it again within the next few months and will post updates. Thanks for showing an interest.

- Geoff

[Geoff]

Just wanted to post a quick update. I haven't given up on this cabinet! I had a lot of issues with trying to touch up some areas where there was, for a lck of a better term, pitting in the lacquer:

[Image: http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/main.ph...alNumber=2]

I have since fixed the issue without having to strip the whole cabinet again and I'll be putting the final coats of clear on tomorrow. I'll post some more photos when I'm done.

- Geoff

[Geoff]

The issue that I ran into that made me step away from this project for awhile was on the top left rounded edge. I was able to fill in the pitting elsewhere on the top as described in post #134 but I just could not fill in the spots satisfactorily on the rounded edge. Out of frustration I dunked a fairly fat artist brush into some lacquer and just gobbed it on in the spot I was having the issue with. That filled in the pitting just great but when I went to sand it down I ended up going through the finish until I saw the wood. That's when I stepped away for awhile. I came back a couple of weeks ago and hit only the bare wood area with several thin coats of extra dark walnut. Then last Friday I hit just that area with several thin coats of clear gloss. Then gave the entire cabinet 3 final coats of gloss. Here is what the edge looks like and the entire cabinet:

[Image: http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/main.ph...alNumber=2]

[Image: http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/main.ph...alNumber=2]

The pictures aren't the best but when I look at it I cannot tell where I went down to the wood. The discoloration next to the white reflection of the light is a reflection of my arm while taking the photo. This is my first attempt at refinishing a cabinet and one thing I have found is that lacquer is very forgiving. I had some minor runs and a dust spec or two here and there along the way but they all sanded out just fine.

I'm now going to let this dry for 30 days and do the final hand rubbing. My goal is a semi-gloss finish so I'll need to do a little research on that.

- Geoff

[bfrohwein]

Wow.. that looks amazing! the before pictures were very reminiscent of my 624 cabinet restore.

[Eliot Ness]

Looks very nice! Thanks for the update Geoff.

[Geoff]

Thanks guys. I've been reading up a lot on rubbing out the finish. My plan is to wet sand with progressively finer grit paper. I'll start lightly with 320 to get rid of any dust nibs and then move on to 500, 1000, then 1500. After that I can either rub out with FFFF pumice or maybe use a rubbing compound. Right now I’m leaning toward the rubbing compound and have been looking at Menzerna PG 1000.

[Image: http://www.menzernausa.com/images/PG%201000.jpg]

From their website:
PowerGloss is our fast-cutting compound designed to eliminate 1500 grit minimum sanding marks on fresh paint. Our unique aluminum oxide clustered abrasive has the power to quickly eliminate sanding defects without leaving the heavy swirls marks typically found in a traditional compound.

Body shops have come to rely on PowerGloss to speed up the buffing process while improving the paint quality of the finished vehicle. Efficiency is further enhanced due to low dusting and minimal slinging reducing clean up time considerably. If necessary on dark colors, you can go right to final polishing for a perfect finish with only two steps saving time and labor.
PowerGloss will safely restore the luster on aged; weather worn and oxidized paint and clear coat. Scratches and heavy swirl marks are eliminated and not hidden since there are no fillers in the formulation. The high concentration of finely milled diminishing size aluminum oxide powder work perfectly with either a wool or foam compounding pad. PowerGloss can be used with either a fast cutting rotary polishing machine or a random orbital polisher.

Although PowerGloss is a compound, professionals have found that it will finish like a polish. With its speed, efficiency, performance, and easy clean up, PowerGloss has become the new industry standard in professional grade buffing compounds.

This is the chart from their website:

[Image: http://www.menzernausa.com/liquidchart2013.jpg]

Depending upon how it looks I may move to the IP 2000.

[Image: http://www.menzernausa.com/images/IP%202000.jpg]

From their website:
Initially developed for the OEM industrial market, Intensive Polish was one of the first products that we introduced to the aftermarket and started a revolution in the industry. Well know as the polish that thinks it is a compound, Intensive Polish will remove a 2000 grit sanding mark, light scratches and oxidation with either a random-orbital or rotary buffing tool. Even with its fast correcting action, it will finish off with little dusting or splatter and leave a high gloss finish.

I got the idea of this polish from a YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q94PuccM_s4&list=WL

I'm not looking for a super high gloss finish. I want to start with a little less shine and progressively move up if needed.

- Geoff

[Eliot Ness]

Menzerna is a high-end compound used by body shops and car detailer's. They are famous for their precision abrasives, some of the best on the market. I have a couple of fine Menzerna polishes around I'll have to try on a wood finish some day.

[andrewbest]

Constantines is awesome.

[Geoff]

Now that the lacquer had cured for 30 days I began the rubbing out process. I wet sanded the entire cabinet starting with 500 grit, then on to 1000, and finishing with 1500. Once that was done I polished out the 1500 grit scratches with Menzerna PG1000 compound. Here is a photo of the side as I was progressing with the compound:

[Image: http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/main.ph...alNumber=2]

Here are some photos of the final product:

[Image: http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/main.ph...alNumber=2]

[Image: http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/main.ph...alNumber=2]

[Image: http://antiqueradios.com/gallery/main.ph...alNumber=2]

Final thoughts...

I did not expect the finish to be quite as shiny. I was hoping to avoid the "glazed doughnut" look. I did a lot of research on rubbing out lacquer and most of what I read said to use gloss lacquer for the clear coats (as opposed to semi-gloss) since you can rub it out to any desired sheen you want (satin, semi-gloss, or gloss). For each progressive grit of sandpaper you get finer and finer scratches. The 1500 left a dull hazy look with the fine scratches readily apparent to the naked eye. The Menzerna did a good job of removing that. But I was hoping to get a semi-gloss look and I'm not sure how one would accomplish that through sanding and polishing of gloss lacquer. You need the polish to get rid of the fine scratches from sanding but when you do that you get super shiny affect. If I were to go back and start over again (which I'm not) I think I would use semi-gloss out of the can for the clear coats and not use gloss. I would still go though the progressive sanding and polishing to remove the 1500 grit scratches but the result would still be semi-gloss with a very smooth feel. I was planning on doing a Philco 16B tombstone cabinet next but I think I'll hold off for now since I really want to get that one done right. Instead, my next refinish will be an RCA T9-10 tombstone but this time I will use semi-gloss for the top coats. If I am happy with the way it looks I may come back to the 640, hit it with #0000 steel wool, and then put some coats of semi-gloss over it. I don't know, we'll see. I've been working on this cabinet off and on for quite some time now and I need to move on and get the electronics done. To be honest, although it was probably not originally this shiny, the look is starting to grow on me a bit.

[Warren]

I think it looks very nice shiny like that. also, as time goes on it will dull a little bit unless you keep polishing it so it might be just what you want after a few months. Very nice job.

[Bob Andersen]

Pumice or rottenstone with a felt block is the traditional material for rubbing out a finish. 2F pumice will get you a satin finish, 4F pumice semi-gloss and rottenstone a gloss.

[Geoff]

Thanks Bob. Maybe I'll go over it again with the 4F pumice and see how it looks. I remember you had a video on YouTube where you demonstrated rubbing out a finish on the side of a TV cabinet. I'll need to take a look at that video again.

[klondike98]

I like it!!! Great work.