[Arran]

Thanks, guys, I appreciate the kind words.

Arran, yes, I feel that my refinishing skills have definitely improved this year. Learning how to use grain filler and sanding sealer has gone a long way toward giving me better finishes. My work is not in the league of someone like Steve Davis, but I don't really expect to get as good as someone who is one of the best. As long as I can keep taking junk and turning them into jewels that look decent, I'll be happy. At least now, my cabinets barely show the grain when I am done. Much better than not filling the grain at all.

The 53C has that "piano" finish that I've been after all along. I'll just keep repeating the technique I used on the 53C on future work, and hopefully, all future cabinets I refinish will turn out as well.

I've seen the offerings of the eBay seller you refer to. No, the majority of his sets never had that extra toning on the edges, but 100 coats of super gloss lacquer and extra (non-original) toning sells, it seems. What the buyers don't know is that too many coats of lacquer will start cracking eventually. I've seen a set that was finished with multiple coats of lacquer, using built-up coats of lacquer to fill the grain instead of using grain filler. After a few years, it started cracking.

Ron;
That is the main problem with attempting to use laquer as a filler, or in using an excessive amount of laquer on a cabinet, it makes it much more susceptible to chipping and cracking. If any of you are in doubt about this just take a look at a Grundig or any of the German sets, in all but the best examples the finish usualy has this crazing all over it, there is some debate about what finish they actually used but in the end the result is the same. The reality is that wood is a natural material that expands and contracts with humidity and and temperature, the thicker the finish is on top the less abilty it has to expand and contract. Even before I found out about grain filling I would typically stop at three to four coats of clear, I figured that any more then that was wasteful, if it did not end up smooth afterward I just lived with it and moved onto the next radio.
I really find what that ebay seller is doing offensive, he isn't restoring these sets he is customizing them, he is really doing his customers a diservice. At first I thought his finishes were not bad but were just taking a little creative license, now that I have looked at enough of his work I realize that there is no creativity involved at all, he is just banging them off on an assembly line basis giving every radio the same finish regardless of year, make, or model. Eventually what he is doing will catch up with him once the finishes on those radios start cracking and his customers realize that they have been taken for a ride.
Regards
Arran