14-01-2013, 01:08 PM
Hi,
Many thanks Mark; having seen your Graves cabinet I'm delighted to say you achieved a wonderful finish and on your very first attempt and given your initial success I'm sure you will do more as the need arises.
http://golbornevintageradio.org/forum/sh...hp?tid=106
I recently updated the French polishing thread adding an even simpler method if a hand rubbed finish is acceptable.
You sure do produce some stunning cabinet finishes Gary using spray cans and it was seeing your exemplary restorations which got me started on radio restoration; it must be over ten years ago that I adopted you as a role model seeing your restorations in the BVWS Bulletin; work at that time I could only dream of and aspire to.
Cellulose Lacquer is indeed a top class finish Gary and it being a surface coating if anything goes wrong it can be removed and the job started over. Every finish has good and bad points. Cellulose has a number of distinct advantages over French Polish; cellulose dries rapidly and gives a tougher finish; it is also a very quick process once the cabinet has been brought to the cellulose stage. Cellulose though is sensitive to cold and can bloom easily; the fumes are harmful to health in confined spaces and the fumes if allowed to build up are explosive.
Aerosols take practice to achieve a top class finish; for a novice runs and curtains appear only too quickly as the lacquer is extremely thin in aerosols and if a clear coat is being applied then it is difficult to judge how much is going on to the surface; if possible; having the surface being sprayed horizontal helps a great deal and to facilitate this a couple of battens clamped to the front of a bench allows the cabinet to be turned allowing the panels to sit horizontally. Starting to spray near to you and working away lessens over spray.
I have decent spraying kit in compressor and assorted spray guns. This allows me to buy auto paint (clear or coloured lacquer) from specialist auto paint suppliers and I usually buy 1ltr tins of lacquer and thinners in 5ltr cans. A dedicated spray gun really does put some finish on quickly allowing wet on wet application; for home use I would never use two pack finishes as these are extremely harmful to health.
Over the years I've used my spray equipment quite a lot but now tend to use it for spraying machines and this is limited by our dire climate.
There is something special about a French polished (shellac) finish that begs to be touched and stroked and I switched to shellac as I can apply it in a confined space with little by way of equipment; it's downside if done correctly is that it is a rather slow process but when I'm working on a cabinet I'm not in a hurry.
Both shellac and lacquer are top class cabinet finishes so whichever suits the person applying it is the right one. Danish Oil is favoured by many cabinet restorers as it is incredibly simple to apply; a child could apply Danish Oil but this is one finish I would never use on a vintage cabinet. It's up to the owner of a vintage radio cabinet as to what finish is applied and I would never criticize the choice. My choices would be shellac; lacquer or varnish.
I've still got a lot to learn when it comes to finishing but with every restoration I've done I've gained more experience.
Kind regards, Col.
Many thanks Mark; having seen your Graves cabinet I'm delighted to say you achieved a wonderful finish and on your very first attempt and given your initial success I'm sure you will do more as the need arises.
http://golbornevintageradio.org/forum/sh...hp?tid=106
I recently updated the French polishing thread adding an even simpler method if a hand rubbed finish is acceptable.
You sure do produce some stunning cabinet finishes Gary using spray cans and it was seeing your exemplary restorations which got me started on radio restoration; it must be over ten years ago that I adopted you as a role model seeing your restorations in the BVWS Bulletin; work at that time I could only dream of and aspire to.
Cellulose Lacquer is indeed a top class finish Gary and it being a surface coating if anything goes wrong it can be removed and the job started over. Every finish has good and bad points. Cellulose has a number of distinct advantages over French Polish; cellulose dries rapidly and gives a tougher finish; it is also a very quick process once the cabinet has been brought to the cellulose stage. Cellulose though is sensitive to cold and can bloom easily; the fumes are harmful to health in confined spaces and the fumes if allowed to build up are explosive.
Aerosols take practice to achieve a top class finish; for a novice runs and curtains appear only too quickly as the lacquer is extremely thin in aerosols and if a clear coat is being applied then it is difficult to judge how much is going on to the surface; if possible; having the surface being sprayed horizontal helps a great deal and to facilitate this a couple of battens clamped to the front of a bench allows the cabinet to be turned allowing the panels to sit horizontally. Starting to spray near to you and working away lessens over spray.
I have decent spraying kit in compressor and assorted spray guns. This allows me to buy auto paint (clear or coloured lacquer) from specialist auto paint suppliers and I usually buy 1ltr tins of lacquer and thinners in 5ltr cans. A dedicated spray gun really does put some finish on quickly allowing wet on wet application; for home use I would never use two pack finishes as these are extremely harmful to health.
Over the years I've used my spray equipment quite a lot but now tend to use it for spraying machines and this is limited by our dire climate.
There is something special about a French polished (shellac) finish that begs to be touched and stroked and I switched to shellac as I can apply it in a confined space with little by way of equipment; it's downside if done correctly is that it is a rather slow process but when I'm working on a cabinet I'm not in a hurry.
Both shellac and lacquer are top class cabinet finishes so whichever suits the person applying it is the right one. Danish Oil is favoured by many cabinet restorers as it is incredibly simple to apply; a child could apply Danish Oil but this is one finish I would never use on a vintage cabinet. It's up to the owner of a vintage radio cabinet as to what finish is applied and I would never criticize the choice. My choices would be shellac; lacquer or varnish.
I've still got a lot to learn when it comes to finishing but with every restoration I've done I've gained more experience.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
