I applaud your efforts. I expect that you will find ways to recover from any errors. It may not be exactly what you wanted, but most things we attempt the first time around usually do. I made a similar error with gluing one side of the veneer on top of my 40-201. I got the glue too thick and I can see the raised area when I look at it. I am not sure if using an Indian or Japanese saw to remove some of the excess glue would be worth the effort. I may just have to leave it as it is. The veneer edge has to be somehow made darker to keep the other veneer layers from showing around the top edge anyway. The grill openings on your radio will probably also have to get a dark stain applied to hide the other veneer layers. Most all of the original radio cabinets I have seen had something like that done to hide some of the less appealing aspects of plywood.
What really scares me is inlaid veneer. I doubt I would ever have the patience or skill to do that type of work.
Looking good, Brenda. I've replaced veneer a few times and used pressure sensitive veneer from here: Rockler.com. It works great and no bubbles. Good luck with your 39-7. I can't wait to see the finished product.
Eric
Lake in the Hills, IL
Member: Philco Phorum, ARF, ARCI & Radiomuseum.org
Well.... I fixed the escutcheon, I put a patch piece of veneer between the first two buttons (still needs to be trimmed), cut out the last of the holes for the speaker, painted the base with black enamel (similar to the original), and applied stain to the rest.
*sigh* rather than helping to make the thing look better overall, to me it brings out all the flaws in my work. Tomorrow, I'll trim the patch on the buttons, mask the escutcheon and apply a coat or two of lacquer to the whole thing. When that's all set, I'll try to find all the chassis mount screws and the knobs (which once again I have put in a container in a safe place, safest of all from me.. *g*), and reassemble the beastie.
Thanks for the tip. I've ordered some mahogany veneer from them, that's what I think is closest to good for the various radios I have. Also, I've only got one color of stain (it's a pain of epic proportions to get stain here.)
OK. Here it is, warts and all. I've all but finished it, I need now to find some small screws or nails to reattach the trim where the station tabs go. Tonight, I'm going to make some new station tabs, printed on photo paper.
This first pic is with flash. It really shows up the flaws in the application of the veneer.
The second is without flash. The radio looks better in this one. I guess all in all, I guess it doesn't look all that bad. It's for sure better than it was when I bought it. Lots of electronic restoration; replacing or recovering crumbled rubber coated wires, recapping, replacing rubber grommets, replacing antenna coil, two tubes. Replacing dial string, realigning. Lots of fun.
Cabinet work was: Stripping off what was left of the old veneer, regluing the cabinet, replacing and regluing the "bones" that form the curved corners, replacing the grill cloth, applying the new veneer, reattaching trim pieces, etc.
Indeed, the original veneer was a lot smoother. I suppose I should have sanded it with some 300 grit. Live and learn, I guess. Maybe I'll try that later, anyway.
I don't have access to all that fancy stuff. I think I mentioned above, I've only one color of stain (red mahogany?), and lucky to have that. I've found I can tone down the darkness by rubbing the cabinet with paint brush cleaner. Didn't do that on this one.
Given when it came out of the box this set was a total basket case, I'm not too unhappy with it. Wish I had taken pics of the "before" of everything.
Woodworking materials are just not readily available. There are furniture makers here, but it's a fairly recent development. In the past, using wood for most anything was actively discouraged. The reason for this is that during and before WWII, the Japanese occupied the peninsula and pretty much stripped it bare of trees and took the wood back to Japan. As I'm sure you're aware, trees grow very slowly. It's difficult now to tell it was so barren here, but to get to this point took a lot of active reforestation and conservation.
I've replaced veneer a few times and used pressure sensitive veneer from here: 
Tomorrow, I'll trim the patch on the buttons, mask the escutcheon and apply a coat or two of lacquer to the whole thing. When that's all set, I'll try to find all the chassis mount screws and the knobs (which once again I have put in a container in a safe place, safest of all from me.. *g*), and reassemble the beastie.
You're much braver than I am, I won't even begin to touch veneer work. Keep the progress reports coming! Joe
