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  • #9674
    Roger Dionne
    Forum Participant

    I am a new member and am a wood finisher with 40 years experience finishing and restoring kitchen and architectural cabinets. I have also restored many radios in the lower mainland of BC, Ontario and New Zealand. My specialty is repairing or replacing wood veneer. I have a large selection of domestic and exotic veneer species.

    I seem to be having problems uploading photos.

    #9678
    Les Dickson
    CVRS Member

    Welcome, Roger. Have you any tips on the best adhesives for veneers that have separated?

    #9679
    Sterling Spurrell
    CVRS Member

    Hi I collect radios and often need veneer , so are you selling it or just replacing it thanks.

    #9682
    Roger Dionne
    Forum Participant

    Hi Sterling, I am pretty miserly when it comes to my veneers. I spent two years in Rangiora, New Zealand and before I came home I had my mother ship me three hockey bags that I loaded with native timbers from NZ and Australia. I still have 70% of it. I don’t only use it for the radios. I also design and build my own furniture with an emphasis on exotic marquetry. For restoration work I have bought wrecked headboards and soaked them in a bathtub and slowly peeled off the veneers. This eliminates the need to stain to colour match a 60+ year old piece of wood that has oxidized and become rich in colour the way most species do. I can give you more detail if you want. If you are buying new veneer then Lee Valley has good cuts although they aren’t cheap.

    Years ago I had a trap line of wood and cabinet shops that I used to mountain bike to and dumpster dive around back and got lots of free veneer that way. Most shops that applied veneer (most don’t today) would throw out the last foot or two of veneer from a job as the customer had already been charged for it and there just wasn’t enough room to keep it. Sometimes if I was discovered rooting around in their dumpsters they would begin neatly stacking it for me and leave it off to the side so I wouldn’t end up looking like a wood worm. You wouldn’t believe how much veneer I used to get that way but now shops don’t have room for a press so they just get it in sheet goods of 1/4 inch or whatever thickness. Cheers, Roger

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    #9684
    Sterling Spurrell
    CVRS Member

    I would appreciate any ideas or help that you can give , has I only started collecting radios 6 years ago and have self thought my self to do most repairs but still have lots to learn . Thanks

    #9685
    Roger Dionne
    Forum Participant

    Veneering is pretty easy once you see it done. It’s basically gluing and clamping although there are a few rules that will prevent costly or frustrating mishaps. I know Windsor plywood stocks standard domestic species like walnut, cherry, oak and maple. I believe they are still around if you can find one. Beaver Lumber used to as well but I believe they were bought out by Home Depot.

    I like teaching so anything I can help with I am glad to. Cheers, Roger

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    #9687
    Roger Dionne
    Forum Participant

    Hi Les, I did respond to you but I don’t see it here. This site is not easy to figure out. Regular carpenter’s glue is what I use and it is compatible with the old hyde glues they used back when. The new glue will actually meld with the old. Good luck, Roger

    #9694
    phil
    Forum Participant

    Roger I have collected lots of radios that need veneer work.and also quite a bit of suitable veneer. would you be into doing some refinishing work in exchange for radios? for example you could take two, refinish one and keep the other in payment for the cabinet work. we can discuss in more detail if you wish. I’m in New West.

    also I went into the profile to see if you were local and your details are listed right down to your house number. Its fine if you wish to share all that with everyone on the internet but it seems it is now a system where you need to opt out of rather than opt into. I’d prefer to just post my area and can share house numbers and such when necessary but I don’t feel very comfortable posting that much detail on the web.
    I’d encourage others to check their profile and adjust their details to what they want it to be.

    Phil

    #9695
    phil
    Forum Participant

    some prefer hide glues because they can be removed whereas carpenters glue is permanent. also you need to be careful with thin veneers as sometimes the carpenters glue can soak right in and cause issues where the glue is embedded and shows in the final finishing. You can still obtain both. if you want to strip veneer sometimes what you can do is place the donor piece outside on a cold frosty morning , then when it freezes up it comes off quite willingly.

    #9696
    Rod Matthews
    CVRS Member

    Roger, what do you recommend to clean a 60 year old blond cabinet with cigarette smoke stains on it? Is there a wax to restore the finish?

    #9699
    Roger Dionne
    Forum Participant

    Hi Phil, thanks for the heads up on my details. I’ll fix that. I swap finishing work for lots of things so yes sure I’d like to have a look at what you have. I’ll email you later so you can capture my address. Cheers

    #9700
    Roger Dionne
    Forum Participant

    Hi Phil, actually if you lightly moisten carpenter’s glue it reconstitutes somewhat and can be scraped off. I did have the problem of having the glue seep into the grain to the surface of the veneer once but it hasn’t happened since. I’ll have to try that freezing technique because soaking a headboard ain’t easy.

    #9701
    Roger Dionne
    Forum Participant

    Hello Rod, I have always used a mild solution of dish soap and warm water and then wiping it down afterward. I have used paint thinner as it won’t break down lacquer and then dish soap after to remove the smell. I quit smoking almost a year ago and did a massive cleaning of the apartment and the truck to get that film and smell out. If that doesn’t do it I suggest you ask someone at Mohawk finishing supplies in Vancouver or Lee Valley in Coquitlam. Hope that works for you.

    #9702
    Roger Dionne
    Forum Participant

    Hi Rod, me again, I just thought of something, Homer Formby finishing product line has a product that is supposed to reconstitute an older finisher but I have never used it. I am not sure if it is for cleaning as much as it is supposed to smooth that alligator crackle some old lacquers and varnishes get when old.

    #9703
    phil
    Forum Participant

    if you want o adjust whats in your profile, you have to be logged in.

    then click your name , then let the page load and you will see two rows in red up near the top, click the second one along the top row it says “profile”
    let the next page load. you ll see profile turn black indicating it is selected.

    then you should see your personal info , adress etc.. You can change it to what you want. maybe some want their addresses published. I think you have to be logged in to see the profiles. Im not clear if you have to be a member of the CVRS to see that info but collectors may not want their house numbers in there. It’s easy enough to ask for addresses if you are involved in shipping things or having people by in my opinion. but everyone can put what they wish. some don’t care. I think it’s good to have your area especially if you are buying and selling as people need to know if you are close if they are going to respond to an ad for a console for example.
    I have some stuff called amalgamator I got it from mohawk finishing supplies under the north en of the knight street bridge. some can clean radios and respray them. lacquer melts into previous coats. My experience trying as that it is easy to mes it up and need to start again but you can take it all off with some lacquer thinner if you want.

    It may be possible to do some work by padding , similar to french polish but it takes practice. whats on the radio is usually yellowed so I normally believe adding some toner and making the lacquer like coffee color in the spray gun inmitates this.. if the objective is to restore a radio I would normally think people aim to make it look like it is well preserved and not like it just rolled out of the store back in 1930.

    one quick fix that is pretty foolproof is to mix 1 part clear linseed oil or clear danish oil, one part turpentine one part vinegar.. the vinegar wont; intermix really dont; worry just shake it as you use it .. it’s just in there for cleaning.. rub some on and then take clean towels and rub it all off. it will go into whitish scratches and put a little finish anywhere the lacquer is missing,, the stuff wont really stick to where there is lacquer too much. buff it down..
    I don’t go for all these brand name furniture polishes and things , they are secretive of ingredients, If they have silicone in them it doesn’t always say and you dont; want silicone on your radios because if you ever refinish youll fight with fish eyes. some things like armor all are bad for it. other stuff like pledge , Im not sure.. I know some like howards paste wax or carnuba wax and things.. dont; use auto polish it’ll be sure to have silicone. antique stores might do that.
    the oil and turpentine wont’ mess up future refinishing

    as an example I just refinished my living room floor,, sanded then went with three coats of dainish oil scrubbed in the oil with 320 wet or dry,, then did three coats of poly the poly coats combine because they are done within hours of each other, then I let it harden and scrubbed with 320 wet with solvent then I did my final coat of poly. Of course you arent’ going to put poly on radios, no one likes that but my point is the products play ok together and you can do an oil finish and then put shellac or lacquer on top of it. sometimes people use shellac as a sealer before they start with other finishes and stains to close the pores so that tints, toners, or stains cant’ collect in the scratches or the natural porosities of the wood.
    note here that sanding with mineral spirits wont hurt my polyurathane. that’s because it hardens by polymerization.. but yet the mineral spirits are a solvent that you can reduce the poly with in it’s liquid state.

    with the blonde cabinet I’d start with maybe just vinegar or even some hand cleaner as you want the dirt off the surface, not embeded in your finish.
    you want to try to avoid rubbing dirt or pigmented finishes like stains into scratches or it gets in the scratch and amplifies them.

    paint ( except lacquer paint) but acrylic enamal , the stuff in spray bombs from the auto store, or (cured) polyurathane are examples of finishes that go on layer by layer, they don’t dissolve underlying areas each coat dries and they overlap. lacquer or shellac melt into the below layers because the solvents can re-melt them. I think the amalgamator is to assist that.

    when I first got into spraying lacquer, it took me a while to realize this difference but it’s an important difference and how you spray and how they combine changes things quite a bit as a result

    If I was to spray using a spray bomb with auto paint. I’d clean and spray a fairly light coat and wait about 5 minutes until that paint is tack but not dry , then I’d spray a bit heavier coat and what happens is the tacky paint sort of clings on and accepts the next layer without it getting to the runny stage.. if it runs you put on too much. If you try to recoat before it dries properly after that layer it will bubble up and be a big mess. this is because the underlying layer is still off gassing as it hardens and that gas gets trapped and has no where it go so it bubbles the coat above up.

    lacquer dries fast so you can load up the surface by doing light coats every 20 minutes, because they melt into each other but loading the surface and waiting for it to tack up like I described above, you can do with enamal but that technique won’t work with lacquer..

    Phil

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