This is the 2nd half of a can of Easy-Off that I used the 1st 1/2 on a plastic radio last month. It beautifully stripped all the old white paint from the bakelite. I did that twice also. Works nicely!
This suff is great, cheap, effective... and smells nice too.
:Te only reason I tought the front need a 2nd application was that it remained so dark compared to the lighter redish brown-golden veneer that wrapped from the sides up and over.
:However after removing the 2nd coat and trying to scrape it slightly with a paint scraper... I noticed nothing dark was coming off.. Wel... thats because it was already down to bare wood... dark wood... looks like black walnut! What a beautiful looking hunk'o wood.
:So I dried it off with paper towells and gave it a very light rub with a little turpentine... I don't know why... just seems like something wood perfers to drink over water.
:I can see that the grain is raised quite a bit and will benefit by some sanding when completely dry. But for now I'll let it sit for a day or so with just a light Minwax oil rub while any water evaporates slowly.
:I don't really know where I'm going here ... but so far so good and especially ...it was easy.
:I like the "instant-like" results... which is not the norm with wood working ..I know. ;-)
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:Hi Peter. Very nice tip on using the oven cleaner. I just finished a "body off" restoration of my Radiola-17. I had the exact same experience with the front of my cabinet (Red Mahogany). After stripping and sanding with very fine grit, I (fortunately)realized the color was still dark but I was down to bare wood. Had I not thought about it, continued sanding could have hurt the face.
Regards,
ki4gts
Rich
:How do you neutralize the acids in the oven cleaner? Will they do something to the wood over time? Be carefull with the fumes it is hard to say what is developed when old varnish and cleaner are combined.
Peter
:Lye was a common paint remover in old days and an ingredient in drain unstoppers, like draino. It is extremely caustic and may well be an ingredient in oven cleaners. I wouldn't touch this stuff with a 10' pole, nor would I use it on wood, especially veneered cabinets. It's a big NO if you value your wood at all. Herman
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::How do you neutralize the acids in the oven cleaner? Will they do something to the wood over time? Be carefull with the fumes it is hard to say what is developed when old varnish and cleaner are combined.
I had always imagined that wood-cabinet repair and refinishing involved many long hours of sanding, painting and resanding etc etc.
..I didn't think I could do that, as I don't feel I'd have that kind of patience... plus I hate sanding.
But now that I've done a few of these refinishing jobs in only 1 evening each I am very happy and excited.
I love the almost 'instant' results now that these few products provide me!
Here is the results of last night's handiwork:
http://www.pbpix.com/howard 256.jpg
Congratulations! You seem to have managed to do an excellent, quick, easy job of utterly ruining a nice old radio. My family has been in the antique business for 70 years. I have collected and restored radios and phonographs for almost 40 years myself, and have learned (the hard way) that there is almost no finish that cannot and should not be restored, rather than stripped. In most instances, it is also a great deal less work to restore an original finish, rather than trash it and refinish. Collectors of radio sets have been notorious for sacrificing good, original finishes and replacing them with open grained horrors that are too light and poorly blended. The same thing was true of the phonograph hobby 20 years ago. Today, however, there is a trememdous premium placed on original finishes amomg phonograph collectors, as there is among collectors of other antiques. I have noticed the same thing is beginning among the collectors of the more desirable radios.
As oven cleaner is a water based stripper, it is absolute POISON to veneer and other glue joints. The lye has another unpleasant effect. It tends to add an unappetizing purplish cast to mahogany.
it is always best to do the least , and try, when possible, to make your work reversable. Remember the NEXT fellow, who will be restoring your set again in another 50 or 60 years.
Peter,
please accept my apologies. I do understand that you are new to this wonderful hobbym ant must admit that I was unduly harsh in my previous post, but must explain that I was under a sort of duress at the time, as 2 months ago I purchased a collection of particularly fine and desirable sets, among which are a Philco Model 90 cathedral, an Atwater Kent Model 84, a 9 tube Zenith "Walton" tombstone, a Grunow Teledial "Shirley Temple" console, and quite a few others. Every one of these sets have been refinished using water-wash stripper, and the sort of stains and varnishes available at the typical "Home Center" store. Most of these sets have been so very badly damaged that the cabinets cannot succesfuly be restored to their original appearance, and so, when I read your post regarding the use of OVEN CLEANER, I was rather upset. Of course, the sets that you have are yours, and you may do with them what you wish, but it is good form to think of those that will come after. One common misconception that many radio collectors have is that a radio cabinet shoulfd show violent contrasts between woods, of that the original finishes "Hide the grain of the wood' the original finishes were intended to avccent the designs of the sets, and allow them to blend pleasantly in to the home environment. The original finishes are so often restorable, with relatively little weffort, ehrn the proper materials are used, such as aerosol toning lacquer, analine dye, and shellac. Again, please accept my apologies. i certainly do not intend to scare you away from a wonderful and fulfilling hobby.