[Mr Grumpy]

Thanks Chuck, that means a lot coming from you.
Dennis, luckily we have two great oldies stations in Toronto, and I probably have too many 78s!

Mike, I'm not a pro by any stretch but I'll give it a try...

First step, I disassembled the set, removed the entire phono compartment and separated each piece of the front grill, they were each held in place with a single screw.
I used a mild paint stripper to remove the old finish, it took three separate coats to remove all the finish to a point where it could be sanded without gumming up the sandpaper. Each coat of stripper should be remove and then the set wiped down with mineral spirits, Lacquer thinner works really well but is very strong and the odor is powerful - it can stain the wood as well so be careful with it. It was during this process that I came to realize that all the inlay and Tiger Maple accent pieces were photo grain so I decided not to strip the grill slats pictured below as they were predominately photo finished.

I sanded with a power sander and 120 grit to remove the worst damaged areas and as much stain as possible, then a 240 with the sander to remove the rest. Sanding by hand with both grits is a must as well to remove the power sander 'swirls' and get in the tight spots, I then touched up with a 320 grit quickly by hand. I've never, ever, sanded through a veneer but it is something that I'm aware of when I'm using a power sander.

I trialed three different minwax oil stains and was happiest with the 'English chestnut'. I covered the entire radio in sections and did not let it sit on the wood for very long (less than a minute) as I didn't want too much of the colour absorbed. Then after it all dried, I re-stained the areas circled in the photo with the same colour stain. These were some type of softwood, maybe poplar or spruce, as they did not absorb the stain as well as the veneer, even with the second coat applied. For the top and bottom areas, I mixed a very small amount of dark walnut to the chestnut and then mixed that colour with a polyurethane gloss clear. I applied two coats of this mixture to these areas to darken the wood, it also served to muddy the unsightly grain of this softer wood. The other circled areas, the same method was used but without the dark walnut mixed in. Since I didn't strip down the front grill slats, I hit them with some 0000 steel wool and then applied a single coat of the chestnut-polyurethane mixture to alter the colour slightly and have them match the rest of the set a bit better. The photo finish on these pieces was a bit more yellow anyway, so it was mostly to get the sides of the slats to match better.

I applied a single coat of gloss on the entire radio, added the photo grain,
then applied about 5 more coats of the clear, including the areas that had the tinted gloss and directly over the photo finish. Each coat dried for one night, rubbed out with 0000 steel wool, and tack-clothed before the next coat.

I then sanded the entire radio CAREFULLY with 800 grit wet sand paper.
This step was necessary because I didn't use a grain filler product.
Then I applied two or three more coats of clear.

After about a week of sitting, I sanded lightly again with 1000 grit wet sandpaper to remove any bumps, dust, or runs, then buffed with a wet cotton rag and pumice. This gave it a sort of 'semi-gloss' look. If I wanted a mirror like finish, I would have rubbed again with a wet rag and rottenstone powder and then waxed with a carnuba wax.

The grill cloth was removed and washed by hand with a mild detergent and all pieces put back together.

I hope I didn't miss any steps.

Unfortunately I don't have any WIP photos.

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Original photo finish...

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