[klondike98]

Back to it again. Doing a few odds and ends on the table and radio. I cleaned up the very dusty speaker and patched the tears in the cone. I think it should be ok but won't know until the set is back in action. I use diluted PVA wood glue and coffee filters. Cut the filter paper to fit, soak in the PVA sauce, place on the cone and using a small soft paint brush smooth out the filter. Let it dry and you can stop there although in this case I added a patch on the back side of the cone as well and painted the filter paper black for cosmetics.

           

I was planning on taking the table apart to strip it but after starting I realized Kiel put it together pretty solidly, screws, dowels, and glue blocks. I decided it would be more efficient to strip it without a complete dismantle. I did take out screws so I could soak in Metal Rescue to de-rust them. The AK55C-Kiel table has two sets of wires running down inside the back legs; power and antenna/ground. As I looked closely at the power cord I realized that the insulation was cracking so it had to come out and be replaced. I'll also take out the antenna/ground wire and receptical which will give me a chance to de-rust the metal housings and make the stripping around those areas on the table legs easier.

   

The front panel door had a hinge screw hole that had previously blown out and been repaired by someone but the repair had failed. I reglued the portion where the wood was still present and filled the gap where wood was missing with epoxy wood putty. It still needs to get colored but I think it should hold.

   

Lastly, I've been working on the table top. The underside had a finish that was actually not too bad, certainly not perfect but for a table that's almost 100 not bad. I tried a Howards Walnut Restore-A-Finish refresh, mostly as an experiment. Rub on with 0000 steel wool for about 15 minutes, not vigorously but simply slowly going over the finish, wipe it all off and let it dry for an hour or so and then repeat. Here's the before and after treatment....

       

The top was largely already stripped when I got the table. I've finished along the edges, repaired some veneer chips, sanded to 220 and put two coats of sanding sealer, and resanded to 220. Next will be grain filler. This time I'll be trying out a new product for me, Aqua Coat clear grain filler. I've watched a few guys use it on guitars and it seems to work well. More next time....