I have an AWA Radiola, I think 1939, and I want to restore the cabinet. The cabinet is made with a veneer, but there seems to be two different woods, or maybe they are just stained or lacquered differently?

I'm assuming that it's a lacquer finish and should clean up with lacquer thinner and acetone. I'm unsure about the best way to refinish it. Where the lacquer has come off you can see that the wood is quite a bit darker, so I'm thinking that the lacquer is tinted.

I'm not sure what lacquer to use, nitrocellulose? What brand? Where to get in oz? Different tints? The outer part of the cabinet is quite a bit darker than the inner, a dark brown, almost black. The inner part is fairly dark as well, but not as dark as the outer. So do I have two different types of wood or two different tints?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Dan

A full strip down is called for . And you should be using shellac . take a look at my post in general discussions called Reliance Skyraider Console 1930s-40s . thats what I had done.

I did get a HMV resprayed with Nitrocellulose a few years back (have photo). But it is being phased out.

The great thing about it is that it creates a good finish as the new coat actually melts into the previous & gives a really good result. The nitrocellulose finish is notable by the fact it cracks and is soluble in Methylated spirits, so keep it away from it.

Marc

Thanks for the replies.

Carl, the radio you restored looks great. I was going to use lacquer because I thought it would be more in keeping with how it would have originally been finished. Shellac sounds a lot easier than messing with sprays.

Question, once you'd stripped the old finish down to bare wood, did you use any wood stain?

Dan

No woodstain. but the grain was drawn in. And the mottling on the the top rung of the speaker opening was also manually drawn in. I did not do it myself. I got a professional to do it. it was worth it as he could see a lot of things I would have overlooked.

I was looking for nitrocellulose lacquer for a classic car dashboard. The only place it is sold these days, as far as I know, is some specialist suppliers of restoration materials for electric guitars - apparently those old Gibsons and Fenders are nitrocellulose lacquered. I only saw very small pots offered.

I have found that lacquer thinners can "freshen up" the surface and even get flakes to lie down and bond back with their neighbours. It depends whether you want something that looks old but presentable, or something that looks as new. If the latter, only a complete strip and refinish with shellac or a different modern lacquer will do it. I'm aiming for a finish that looks its age, but clean and tidy.

Maven