I was going to say not to use stain at all, but a little walnut stain on that structural (white wood) will bring up the grain nicely. And that only applies if you are not going to use a lot of toner over the top of it.
That is how I got this effect on a Clarion cathedral:
I have two consoles that I used Grain filler and toners only with good results.
By structural wood I take it you mean the base and the ridge around the top? If I use the classic toner, I would see the grain through it, so what you say makes sense. It would make those areas nice if I added some color first.
The grille bars really have no grain showing, so here I was thinking a light touch of VanDyke brown tone finish toner. Probably the same color for the previously mentioned areas.
BTW I went to your website today and enjoyed it very much. Quite a collection and all in nice condition.
Tony
“People may not remember how fast you did a job, but they will remember how well you did it”
Today I started on my test board. In the picture you will see 4 sections. From left to right are the following, Yellow dye stain, Medium Brown Walnut pigment stain, Light Golden Oak dye stain, and bare wood. All stains were dry brushed after application to keep from getting blotchy. There is a coat of Zinnser Seal Coat over everything.
Next will be a 400 grit sanding followed by grain filler. Since I am grain filling the top , front, and sides of the cabinet, I want to get an idea of how the colors will show up. This way if I need to stain, I will know what direction to go.
The roll top has two coast of spray sanding sealer on it, and I would say a light sanding and it's ready for a top coat when I am ready to do so.
Tony
“People may not remember how fast you did a job, but they will remember how well you did it”
You can also use aniline based wood dye on the white wood, but I have used fabric dye (Ritt) with much the same effect, although you have to heat the fabric dye solution to get it to penetrate. The white woods they used were things like poplar, maple, or beech, and occasionally ash, tulip poplar was what they liked to use for moldings since it's a softer hardwood and relatively blemish free. I refinished a Canadian Westinghouse AC/DC set (1949 vintage) using mahogany gel stain, the top and sides were made out of strips of maple which were intended to be tone sprayed, they came up like butcher block. This is a common enough radio that really wasn't worth much, and it was sort of plain and boring, so experimenting with the finish wasn't a big deal, I wouldn't have done that with a more collectable radio though.
Regards
Arran
Dyes are good. Don't get it on your hands - unless you really like that color. Dyes will not bring out the grain but they were used on some of the finishes originally.
Well much progress on my cabinet finally. Currently everything is close to being ready for a top coat, as it is sealed with sanding sealer. 23 steps so far.
I have to decide if I want the rim around the top to be darker. I did the grille bars with VanDyke Brown, but thought the rim should be lighter. There is one section between the bottom of the front panel and the radio front, a narrow board, that is too light. Can't really tell from the pictures. That could get a shot of Extra Dark Walnut classic toner to blend it in.
Once ready, I will spend some time with my new sprayer, a Fuji Mini Mite 3 stage HVLP unit. I will practice on a spare piece of wood so I can get my pattern and flow right. Plus learn how to shoot vertical surfaces too.
Here are some quickly shot pictures I took today so you can get an idea of the project so far.
Tony
“People may not remember how fast you did a job, but they will remember how well you did it”
(This post was last modified: 03-25-2018, 06:46 PM by tbone.
Edit Reason: Add Images
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I will look into stripping off the grille bars and see how hard it will be without causing other problems. I do like it this way, but I fully understand it's not close to original color. Somewhere I saw a picture of one done similar and we all know what happens when you assume.
Tony
“People may not remember how fast you did a job, but they will remember how well you did it”
Well it's taken me a while, but I am at the point where I really like this radio, and I am done spraying. I had a big learning curve with my new HVLP sprayer. I practiced a lot on a scrap piece of Luan and did a lot of vertical spraying so I could feel confident about not getting runs with a good wet coat.
I made the decision not to strip the Grille Bars and re-tone. I fully understand this is not original, but I like it and I didn't want to strip and start over on the front.
I would like to know if this is too glossy, as I could knock it down a notch and rub it with 0000 wool and wax. I think a true rub-out, if done properly, would make it shine more, and might be beyond my skill level. Especially with the tight spaces and rounded corners. Right now I am two weeks into the curing process, so there is time to decide.
Here are the pictures. The lighting in some of the pictures don't really show the true gloss, especially the top and side views.
Tony
“People may not remember how fast you did a job, but they will remember how well you did it”
(05-05-2018, 10:38 AM)Phlogiston Wrote: Wait 2 weeks then buff it out.
Could you explain your method of buffing it out? If I’m thinking right, you mean buffing it with the wax. True rubbing out requires pumice and rotten stone, the way I understand it. This part of finishing is new to me, so I want to learn what I can.
Thanks,
Tony
“People may not remember how fast you did a job, but they will remember how well you did it”
Great job!
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