Finish for radiogram

[ivanavitch]

Hi all
I am refurbishing a 1960's Kriesler radiogram. Innards aren't the problem.
The finish is a matt (worn) or original semi-gloss. Other units I have seen had a piano type finish but not this one.

Has anyone had any experience on this sort of thing and can give a hint as to the finish I should apply?

regards
John

[Bob38S]

You will need to be very careful in your prep work. The old finish needs to be removed carefully and completely if you want a good job. Be careful of the surface as the one I did many years ago was veneered timber and not solid. The danger is if sanding it is very easy to get the substrate showing and this is not what you are trying to do. Be aware that the veneer is glued on and any form of harsh chemical stripper will probably cause the glue to let go and bleach your timber, if you really do need to use a stripper then use one of the so called bio strippers. It is possible, depending on the age that the finish is a shellac - if it is you are laughing as shellac is easily removed with methylated spirits.

I used the kitchen type of scrubber (sanding pads - they come in different colours which indicate the grades) to remove the finish. These pads are great as they only appear to remove the finish and not damage the veneer. They also let you clean out any grooves or steps/features without rounding over any sharp edges as happens with sandpaper so long as you go carefully.

Once totally clean, you can decide on your finish. I was happy with the colour of the timber and sprayed a satin finish containing tung oil which penetrated slightly and did not build up like a plastic finish on the top. If you wish to change the colour then you could stain and finish or add some stain to your finish - absolutely try it first on scrap first as you will really only get one chance to get that part right.

If you don't have any spray gear then I would use a wipe on finish - you can control the shine/ depth of finish by the number of coats. Also seriously consider shellac - check out the forum's sponsor Ubeaut as he makes good gear and his Polisher's handbook is a mine of information - no affiliation just a user of his gear.

When you finish, post some pix and let us know how you went and how you solved any issues.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
Bob

[ivanavitch]

Thanks Bob
After cleaning up I decided it wasn't that bad to actually strip it at this stage. A good wipe down and a liberal coat of carnauba wax got it into reasonable shape. The control panel needed stripping and a repaint. Same same the metal grill. Modified the internals to have USB power and MP3 input