Radio Refinishing

[LOP]

What is the proper method of handling the transition of the stained portion
and the painted portion of a radio cabinet? In one case you would stain and
finish the entier cabinet and then add the "Mohawk" paint over the
appropriate areas. In a second case you would only stain and finish the
appropriate areas and then paint dirrectly over the wood of the other areas.
I am just a beginner in the area of radio cabinet finishing as you can
probably tell so your help will get me started in the right direction.

Thanks, Don and Liz

[philsvintageradios]

others may have their own preferences, mine is to use extra dark
walnut toner from mowhawk for the dark edges ( not paint - toner) you
should just be able to see the grain underneath. for the areas where
you want to darken it a bit I would mix a bit of toner in the laquer
so it looks like coffee. the reason I say this is it is reversible
unlike stain. - wash it off with laquer thinner if you mess up.

Look for pictures to get an idea what the color should look like, and
keep in mind many have been refinished or darkened by smoke etc. If
you use stain be careful, you might see a situation where something
like uneven sanding or surface prep causes uneven "soaking up" of the
stain.

Obviously none of this is a hard rule and I do see why stain is
sometimes preferred. Stain doesn't hide the grain if it is the type of
stain for this, not the kind of stain for the fence, whch is like
paint, but alcohol based, alaline dyes etc. Good cabinetry would
normally use stain not toner, but radios are production furnature not
fine furniture, and usually it is the objective to restore radios to
an origional looking finish.

Phil

[Phil Nelson]

I use toning lacquer (not stain) in all cases, since that's what they used
in the factory and you may get a better color match if the cabinet has
different kinds of woods, etc.

I got pretty good results in reproducing the shaded parts of the cabinet in
my Midwest DD-18.

http://www.antiqueradio.org/MidwestDD-18.htm

If your cabinet has sharply defined light-to-dark parts, you can use the
green or blue painter's masking tape, plus plastic or newspaper, to mask
around the parts that you're spraying dark. Leave the mask on just long
enough to let the fresh lacquer to set up, then s-l-o-w-l-y peel the taped
mask off horizontally to the surface, so you don't peel off whatever off you
have put on before that.

Phil Nelson

"philsvintageradios" <philsvint...@yahoo.ca> wrote in message
news:2aa34fdf-6f7b-4563...@i20g2000prf.googlegroups.com...

[philsvintageradios]

> I got pretty good results in reproducing the shaded parts of the cabinet in
> my Midwest DD-18.
>
> http://www.antiqueradio.org/MidwestDD-18.htm
>

I really enjoyed the Midwest article. I have a G-34 similar to the one
shown on the midwestradiomuseum.com site, and your article is an
inspiration.
Mine does work, must be one of the loudest radios I have. I was
worried for the speaker when the previous owner demo'd it for me. The
switches and stuff feel a bit wiggly, but I was lucky to get the
speaker that it was sold with. The micamold capacitor would have
fooled me , it sure looks like a mica one.

Phil M

[Phil Nelson]

That G-34 is a real head-turner, for a tabletop.

Enjoy!

Phil Nelson

"philsvintageradios" <philsvint...@yahoo.ca> wrote in message

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