[Ron Ramirez]

I will have to face the fact that I cannot refinsh cabinets.

Sure you can! Looks OK to me. And if you can still see the woodgrain, then you did alright.

Refinishing is not an easy process. Like you, I felt that I could not refinish cabinets. I've sprayed lacquer on cabinets before, but they always ended up looking like an amateur refinish job because I was not using grain filler, and did not have the technique of sanding between so many coats down pat yet. So after many tries, failures, and poor results, I came to the conclusion that I should stick to chassis work and leave the cabinets to others.

But this year, I determined that I was going to learn how to properly refinish cabinets. My first efforts with using grain filler and sanding between coats turned out OK (Philco 38-14 and 39-7). A Philco 40-155 was a setback, it did not turn out as well as the first two. But after that, my technique gradually began to improve. I refinished a Philco 40-125 and it came out great. I moved on to an Atwater Kent 33, and it doesn't look bad at all. Next up, I refinished a Philco 16B shouldered tombstone, and it turned out even better. My latest project, which I finished this morning, is a Philco 53C cigar box pee-wee...and it was a wreck when I began. Now, I think I have finally achieved a good piano finish with this one.

I suggest you practice on small wood table model radios, and gradually work your way up to larger sets. If I can do this...you can, too.