Antique wood color ???

[Bill Meacham]

I see alot of 'antique' furniture and things that have a
deep, dark reddish-purple color. I've only occasionally
seen this in radio cabinets but have recently acquired an
Airline tombstone, 62-198, that is this color.
The cabinet had been refinished in the past, and the wood is
stained to that color. I wonder if this was the original
shade and should I try to maintain this color or get it back
to the normal run-of-the-mill brown walnut/mahogany??

--
Bill Meacham
Vieques, PR

[Sylvain]

I own an RCA that conform to that color. Bought mine stripped and waited
to get
the "correct" color before I refinished it. Well, in my vacations this
summer,
I found one the exact same model but still having it's original finish,
in bad
shape though. I was surprised to see the original color was way off the
usual
walnut and more on the purple side, just like yours. I don't
particularly like
it but it's the original color so I guess the best thing is to bring it
back
the way it should be and not the way I want it. That way, if I ever put
it
aside to one that still has it's original finish, the comparison won't
hurt.

The biggest problem when buying stripped or refinished radio is to get a
reference
color from an original one, not always available, and B/W pictures don't
help much !

But I guess it is your call if you prefer a more common color.

[Phil Nelson]

I have seen the darkish red mahogany color in some postwar consoles, but I
can't recall ever seeing a mahogany colored tombstone. 1930s experts, you
are free to prove me wrong, of course :-)

Your call what to do, but I'd be tempted to put it back to "original recipe"
brown.

Phil
philn...@antiqueradio.org

[sameold...@my-deja.com]

In article <39D4BC43...@concept-allegro.com>,

Bill,

I am going to add another post about Semi- Faux later today. In it I
talk about using artists oil colors and Winsor-Newton's Liquin. In the
mean time I am sending an e-mail of a colored pencil sample of just the
color you described. You are right when you spoke of waiting till this
all shakes out. We are going to make this work!

Stewart
>

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

[Bill Meacham]

Syl,
Glad to know that this color exists somewhere else in the
old radio rainbow. Its a common color, all my Granny's
furniture was this 'red mahogany' and I have a homebrew 20s
TRF that is also similar. But I think the previous
refinisher eons ago went a little overboard on the red
stain. I've now restained over it with a very light
blessing of a dark walnut to tone it down a bit. It looks a
bit more realistic now.
Will post pix when I get it finished.
-Bill

[sylvain]

Maybe the guy's "chroma" was off a bit... ? 8o)

I'd sure like to see the result...Keep a "before" picture, always interesting.

Sylvain

[Hagstar]

Phil Nelson wrote:
>
> I have seen the darkish red mahogany color in some postwar consoles, but I
> can't recall ever seeing a mahogany colored tombstone.

I thought ALL 1930's Wells Gardner Airlines were red mahogany..... all
the ones I have are anyway. Admittedly, no tombstones, but I thought
that one looked like the original color when I bid on it.

John H.

[oldwood]

In article <39D4B4E6...@coqui.net>,

Bill Meacham <ex...@coqui.net> wrote:
> I see alot of 'antique' furniture and things that have a
> deep, dark reddish-purple color. I've only occasionally
> seen this in radio cabinets but have recently acquired an
> Airline tombstone, 62-198, that is this color.
> The cabinet had been refinished in the past, and the wood is
> stained to that color. I wonder if this was the original
> shade and should I try to maintain this color or get it back
> to the normal run-of-the-mill brown walnut/mahogany??
>
> --
> Bill Meacham
> Vieques, PR
>

Dear Bill:
Since I am no expert on radios, I will confine my remarks
to "furniture" in general. From about 1895 to 1930 or so, one of the
popular commercial colours was "red mahogany" - almost always over
birch in imitation of the more expensive and desireable mahogany, and
consisting of a water soluble-analine dye which DEEPLY penetrated the
wood. Over time some of the "reds" tend to resemble purples due to
exposure to light and air. This colour is very persistent - simple
stripping will not remove it, and most bleaches will not even start to
reduce it. It is one peculiar beast. Most refinishers simply redye the
piece in a similar colour, thus restoring the original colour - others
treat it with a green wash to kill a bit of the red residue, and then
colour it medium to deep brown (walnut). It can also be used as a base
for cherry shades. It is very possible that the original colour of your
piece was this "red mahogany". Regards, Oldwood.

[Bill Meacham]

Thanks for the info. The reddish stain has very well
penetrated the wood. In tinkering with it, I see that it
would be impossible to remove or bleach out. I have stained
over it with some dark walnut to bring it back in the
direction of a wood color. Actually its quite pretty now
and I'm content with it. Whether or not its original
remains to be seen, but of course I won't find that out
until I finish rubbing out the final coat of lacquer.
-
Bill Meacham
Vieques, PR

[in_big_sk...@my-deja.com]

In article <39D5767D...@coqui.net>,

Bill Meacham <ex...@coqui.net> wrote:
> oldwood wrote:
> >
> > In article <39D4B4E6...@coqui.net>,
> > Bill Meacham <ex...@coqui.net> wrote:
> > > I see alot of 'antique' furniture and things that have a
> > > deep, dark reddish-purple color. I've only occasionally
> > > seen this in radio cabinets but have recently acquired an
> > > Airline tombstone, 62-198, that is this color.
> > > The cabinet had been refinished in the past, and the wood is
> > > stained to that color. I wonder if this was the original
> > > shade and should I try to maintain this color or get it back
> > > to the normal run-of-the-mill brown walnut/mahogany??
>

I swiped a low resolution picture off of E-Bay of a 62-198 some time
ago and that picture shows a rich brown color with a hint of red.
That one looked origional. So, I also think your set was dyed after
manufacture. The actual manufacturer of this set I believe was Belmont
Radio Corp. for Montgomery Ward.

Roger Strobel

[Bill Meacham]

in_big_sk...@my-deja.com wrote:
>
> In article <39D5767D...@coqui.net>,

> Bill Meacham <ex...@coqui.net> wrote:
> > oldwood wrote:
> > >
> > > In article <39D4B4E6...@coqui.net>,
> > > Bill Meacham <ex...@coqui.net> wrote:
> > > > I see alot of 'antique' furniture and things that have a
> > > > deep, dark reddish-purple color. I've only occasionally
> > > > seen this in radio cabinets but have recently acquired an
> > > > Airline tombstone, 62-198, that is this color.
> > > > The cabinet had been refinished in the past, and the wood is
> > > > stained to that color. I wonder if this was the original
> > > > shade and should I try to maintain this color or get it back
> > > > to the normal run-of-the-mill brown walnut/mahogany??
> >

> I swiped a low resolution picture off of E-Bay of a 62-198 some time
> ago and that picture shows a rich brown color with a hint of red.
> That one looked origional. So, I also think your set was dyed after
> manufacture. The actual manufacturer of this set I believe was Belmont
> Radio Corp. for Montgomery Ward.
>
> Roger Strobel
>

Thanks for the information. Just what I needed to know. Do
you still have the picture and could you email it to me?
Yes, its a Belmont chassis 585 I think is the number.

[sylvain]

Had a look at your Airline, my RCA is darker and more on the purple side,
but if I adjust the contrast on my monitor -yeah I know, sounds funny- I get
the exact color ! Dunno if yours is original (after a good look, I doubt it),
but the RCA looks just as bad -or good, depends on who-,
I agree that a bit of walnut should tame the red, again, your call.

Ciao,
Sylvain

Bill Meacham wrote:

> Syl,
> Glad to know that this color exists somewhere else in the
> old radio rainbow. Its a common color, all my Granny's
> furniture was this 'red mahogany' and I have a homebrew 20s
> TRF that is also similar. But I think the previous
> refinisher eons ago went a little overboard on the red
> stain. I've now restained over it with a very light
> blessing of a dark walnut to tone it down a bit. It looks a
> bit more realistic now.
> Will post pix when I get it finished.
> -Bill
>
> Sylvain wrote:
> >

> > I own an RCA that conform to that color. Bought mine stripped and waited
> > to get

> > the "correct" color before I refinished it. Well, in my vacations this
> > summer,
> > I found one the exact same model but still having it's original finish,
> > in bad
> > shape though. I was surprised to see the original color was way off the
> > usual
> > walnut and more on the purple side, just like yours. I don't
> > particularly like
> > it but it's the original color so I guess the best thing is to bring it
> > back
> > the way it should be and not the way I want it. That way, if I ever put
> > it
> > aside to one that still has it's original finish, the comparison won't
> > hurt.
> >
> > The biggest problem when buying stripped or refinished radio is to get a
> > reference
> > color from an original one, not always available, and B/W pictures don't
> > help much !
> >
> > But I guess it is your call if you prefer a more common color.
> >

> > Bill Meacham wrote:
> > >
> > > I see alot of 'antique' furniture and things that have a
> > > deep, dark reddish-purple color. I've only occasionally
> > > seen this in radio cabinets but have recently acquired an
> > > Airline tombstone, 62-198, that is this color.
> > > The cabinet had been refinished in the past, and the wood is
> > > stained to that color. I wonder if this was the original
> > > shade and should I try to maintain this color or get it back
> > > to the normal run-of-the-mill brown walnut/mahogany??
> > >