[Ron Ramirez]

Progress report:

Following some coaching by "etech" (and thank you also for the sample of grain filler), I tried applying the stuff yet again.

This time, I brushed it on as before, but then I rubbed it into the pores with a hard, circular motion. I found that in doing this, most of the excess came off, leaving the filler in the pores for the most part and eliminating the need for scraping.

I decided to call that "good enough" and today, proceeded with the work.

After sanding both cabinets down, I found that the front and sides of the 38-14 cabinet actually turned out better than I thought; I think I achieved about 90% grain fill here. However, on the top, some pores are showing - but not nearly as much as they would have if I had used no filler at all.

As for the 39-7, the top is pretty much 100% filled. But the front and sides of the 39-7 were not completely filled, not as much as I initially thought.

Nevertheless, after sanding, I hit both cabinets with one more coat of sanding sealer, then applied the Medium Walnut toner.

Then this evening, I used lacquer and a tiny brush to coat the inner edges of the grille cutouts on both cabinets.

Here's the results so far. First, the 38-14:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/ARF/063.jpg]

I don't know why the black lacquer in the edges of the grille cutouts looks uneven in this photo. It doesn't look that way in person.

Anyway, here's the 39-7:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/ARF/068-1.jpg]

This one has brown lacquer in the edges of the grille cutouts.

The 38-14 cabinet had black trim on the top and bottom edges; the 39-7 had Extra Dark Walnut toner. If all goes well, both will receive the dark toners to their respective top and bottom edges tomorrow, and then clear coats of Deft.

Neither cabinet is going to be 100% perfect, but they are looking much better than if I had used no grain filler at all.