zenith color roundie tv saved from barn 6/3/12

[Phil Nelson]

Don't worry about stain vs. lacquer if you already started staining. There are many ways to skin the cat, and I'm sure your cabinet will look good in the end.

Regarding the stand, is the long dimension (34") the depth or the height? Hard tell exactly from the photo.

Regards,

Phil Nelson

[snelson903]

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

Don't worry about stain vs. lacquer if you already started staining. There are many ways to skin the cat, and I'm sure your cabinet will look good in the end.

Regarding the stand, is the long dimension (34") the depth or the height? Hard tell exactly from the photo.

Regards,

Phil Nelson

34 " height or tall, and 24"x24" square on top

[snelson903]

Originally Posted by mstaton

WOW, that's looking awesome. I commend you for your effort!

thanks,and magnavox300 ill see it to it end no matter what it looks like when im finished, so far i been surprising myself ,i have never refinished a cabinet before but this might change my mind about doing more .im trying to take my time at it ,but i like to get started on the chassis.

[snelson903]

ok after i let the frt molding work dry i litely sanded the sides and top with 400 grt. paper flat block just make sure i didnt miss anything blew it off[compressed air ] best i could & tac cloth it and applyed my 1st coat ,i also took a chance and blacked just the end of plywood so the plywood layers were covered , i notice they did the same thing with the orginal fiber board ,i also have a 1989 zenith console that has almost the same color staining and they did that on the set to blackened were there was a large gap .tomorrow i want to see it in the sun light and see if thick or thin in areas and adjust it with 2nd coat ,then it should be time for sealer .this camera im useing doesnt seem to like certain colors like the inside is more red tint the picture shows kinda purple brown the guy at the hardware store match to the orginal color pretty good ,i brought lots of samples for his computer to scan but it still came down to 3 opions before he mixed it. lol they love me there,im always making them look for something they never hurd of before.

[mstaton]

The cabinet will be better built than the original was. looking nice. getting closer

[snelson903]

Originally Posted by mstaton

The cabinet will be better built than the original was. looking nice. getting closer

yes im almost done , then ill take a breather and begin the chassis rebuild , i cant wait see it all finished and watching it but i no from experience take your time it turn out better .one for sure that cabinet is a lot stronger then the orginal was with added frameing.

[Eric H]

Such a staggering amount of work you are doing.
The tough ones leave you with a more satisfied feeling afterwards though.

[consoleguy67]

Your cabinet is looking great! Time and patience is working in your favor.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by snelson903

no i hate veneer ,i lined up the plywood to match the orginal veneer fake pattern they almost look the same ,so i also matched the stain or varnish also so im going give it shot ,you just have to watch shading i quess ,when i havent been working the cabnet iv been learning about stains and been testing on scrap wood ,after i get it to match the orginal then spray on the clear coat sealer .

I think you have two things confused.....VENEER is thinly sliced high quality wood that can be stained, lacquered, and even sanded if you do not go too deep and if the veneer is not too thin. PHOTOFINISH is the term for FAKE wood finishes(usually consisting of some combination of printed paper, paint, dye, vinyl, etc) applied over ugly wood to improve the look.

You can get AWESOME veneer at many wood stores, but photofinish can't be bought and usually can't even be duplicated!

[snelson903]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

I think you have two things confused.....VENEER is thinly sliced high quality wood that can be stained, lacquered, and even sanded if you do not go too deep and if the veneer is not too thin. PHOTOFINISH is the term for FAKE wood finishes(usually consisting of some combination of printed paper, paint, dye, vinyl, etc) applied over ugly wood to improve the look.

You can get AWESOME veneer at many wood stores, but photofinish can't be bought and usually can't even be duplicated!

yes i agree, iv been learning about some of these ,to me veneer is or was press board with a fack picture of wood glued to it ,like the wal-mart desk and bookshelfs they sell are. now that i have been getting into this finishing work i have been looking into all the different types ,to me though i still like a wood product that is made like plywood ,any of the press boards like o.s.b or particle board or even fiber board i dont care for.i call this my learning curve time.i have a radio it was made in the mid 30's it was damaged from water being in my father inlaws garage ,i restored the chassis years ago, now since i tryed for the first time at refinishing something i going to restore that old radio cabinet ,taking from what learned on this cabinet and do better on that one .

[snelson903]

here's a thought for anyone that might know, when the factory any company draws up plans for a new tv cabinet design's from 40's through the 60's are they arkived anywhere or destroyed, i was just thinking it would be cool to find some old factory plan's on cabinet's that the factory used. and build a new one from all the right measurement's ,even down to the color of stains they used.bring back some of cabinets that have been lost to time .

[Reece]

In most cases they didn't use much stain. Radio cabinets from the thirties on used lacquer and where tinting was required they used dyes in the lacquer itself. Especially on trim wood, legs, etc. which were of some common wood like poplar, they used toning lacquers. These are available today in various shades. What happens with these sorts of woods is that they either won't take stain, or take too much and look muddy. Some of that can be avoided by using a lacquer sanding sealer first and then filling the wood grain pores, then sanding lightly, before any staining takes place, the coats of finish lacquer afterwards. The sanding sealer before anything keeps the stain from sinking in too deep, making the desired finish more controllable. That's the way the factory cabinets were made. In the twenties they used shellac, but around 1930 lacquer came into use. They never used varnish and of course not polyurethane which hadn't been developed yet. Neither of the last two finishes will look authentic. The cabinets had to get out of the door fast and look good, and lacquer being fast drying allowed that.

[Magnavox300]

Originally Posted by snelson903

here's a thought for anyone that might know, when the factory any company draws up plans for a new tv cabinet design's from 40's through the 60's are they arkived anywhere or destroyed, i was just thinking it would be cool to find some old factory plan's on cabinet's that the factory used. and build a new one from all the right measurement's ,even down to the color of stains they used.bring back some of cabinets that have been lost to time .

I thought of the same thing when I was repairing the Magnavox console.
I thought it would be great to just build a whole new cabinet using the old one as a guide.
I only thought of it because there was a little wear to the top trim, and I started to scrape it off, figuring I would just sand and stain it again to match,
but then realized it was faux painted in a mahogany grain!!!!
I had no idea they did that with those cabinets!
The wood underneath was poplar, as REECE mentioned above.
I decided to just strip the whole length of trim I had started on,
mixed 2 different stains, and it actually matched very decent. You can see the difference in the wood grain, but only if you are really looking for it.
Fortunately I was able to save that mistake!
I was very impressed with the original faux mahogany paint job they did back then, I also have a Magnavox stereo console from '61 in a cherry finish, and now I am sure that was faux painted as well.
I was a professional house painter for many years, and even did some faux painting myself for customers, but I couldn't tell these cabinets were!!!
I know hardwood is expensive, but I guess it was cheaper for the companies to faux paint these cabinets; seems like a lot of work though!

[uxwbill]

Originally Posted by snelson903

here's a thought for anyone that might know, when the factory any company draws up plans for a new tv cabinet design's from 40's through the 60's are they arkived anywhere or destroyed

I suspect that most have been destroyed, as nearly all of these old line TV manufacturers are out of business and have been for a long time. Unless the former employees saved something, or it's languishing in an antique store somewhere, the odds aren't good.

For a Zenith set, there might be a fleeting hope as they never really went out of business. Good luck finding anyone to ask, or anyone that would care to look around within the company.

Great job on this restoration so far! I can't wait to see it back together and playing again!

[old_tv_nut]

A cabinet is not a replacement part, so no incentive to retain manufacturing specs after a design is no longer used; plus, the drawings were probably at a separate cabinet plant somewhere.