[Jamie]

   
   

Here is our little radio all stripped. Yes, it only took about 30 minutes. No sense in wasting time. One thing to mention - I did use the stripper indoors, but I took it outside to wash it with mineral spirits and lacquer thinner. Never use those things indoors, the odors are flammable and they could kill you. As you remove stripper and finish, follow the grain with your scraper or steel wool. Otherwise, you will leave marks in the wood.

Now, at this point we have some options. This is where I would repair any damage to veneer or wood, use grain filler, etc. This radio cabinet is pretty nice, so I'm going to skip all of that. It never had a piano finish when new, so I'm not going to do it now. No grain filler. But some guys do it no matter what.. I respect that too. From this point on, do NOT touch the radio with your bare hands. Oil in your skin can cause fisheyes in the final finishing process.

Ok, I want you to notice something. Look at the colors of the wood. See the differences? Scroll up...Look at the original photo of this radio, then come back down here. Notice the center panel and bottom of the radio are a different color than the ends? This is important. Those colors were buried under years of lacquer, shellac, whatever was on this radio. The main reason this radio is being refinished is because I want to emphasize these colors.....

..and this is why we will use Medium Walnut and Dark Walnut Toner in the next steps....