I'm restoring this cabinet and this is the first time I've had it under a good light. I noticed that the veneer is cracking on both of the curved sides. I know I could always replace the veneer, but that is beyond my capability right now. Would just filling it with grain filler, then sand it, then move on in the finishing process work?
What you you do and have you ever encountered this before and what was done to fix/make it acceptable?
Hello Crist, you cant do much on the cracking veneer without replacing it and it doesn't look that bad, once its stripped and sanded I would use wood filler that you got at Elliot's hardware then do your grain filler. The missing veneer looks like mahogany same as what its next to except at deferent angel
Hi;
I would go to the Constantine's website, have a look at their gallery, and compare the grain and colour, but strip a section off first so you can see the true colour. I don't think it's mahogany, but possibly eucalyptus. Philco liked to use a lot of quarter sawn French walnut veneer in their cabinets from the 1936-42 period, and French walnut in general, but used things like Zebrano and other exotic woods for banding. The only way to know for sure is to find an original ad or pamphlet describing what veneers were used which there may be for a 116X.
Regards
Arran
In Arlington there is a wood workers store named Rocklers. I went in today and looked over their veneer for this repair. I chose some Flaky Quarter Sawn Oak Veneer. I got a pack of pieces 12 inches long by about 5 inches. When I got home I picked a small piece to test. I used some Mohawk Medium Walnut grain filler to fill the grain and bring out the real grain pattern. Then sanded it some. The pictures tell the story. While the grain is a bit larger than what I really need, I'll find a section of veneer that has a tight grain pattern and use it. I think it will work out real well.
No, it was definitely not oak that they used originally. Here is a link to a photo gallery of various veneer species, Constantine's gallery is just not what it used to be unless I'm looking in the wrong part of their website, this is from another website:
I know it wasn't Oak. But I thought it might be close. Looking at the links to the samples, I think Anigre wood might work well too. Might just take another drive up to Rocklers to have another look.
Nathan,
Thanks for the ad. Would there be a way to email a hi-res copy of it?
Thanks
I think the butt Walnut might be referred to the center panel with all the controls.
On ARF somebody suggested that it was Walnut and nothing special. However the inlays are of a lighter color wood. the grain does match Walnut though. I'm soaking a small piece of walnut veneer I harvested off another cabinet in some bleach to see if I can lighten it up. I did 1 piece last night and let it soak overnight. all I had this morning was some very thin "skins" of a beautiful grain pattern. The 2nd piece is soaking as I type and I'm keeping an eye on it. I wonder if I can get some "blonde" walnut?
Ah - you're probably right about the butt walnut being that center part. Could the piece you're replacing be French/European walnut? American walnut is typically darker.
Personally I like having an ad to go with each of my display radios but unfortunately I don't actually own this ad - I stole the pic from an eBay listing:
I repaired the dents, scratches, and the veneer. I applied the grain filler, sanded it down, then stained it. I then went over it with some toner. Next I'll do the black inside, then the dark brown trim, then sealer, then top coats.
I do have another question about the cabinet though. It concerns the dial cover. It seems I'm missing a small rectangular tan piece that goes onto the backside of the glass dial cover for the shadow meter. Can anybody give me some details on this little piece of plastic? How is it attached to the glass dial cover? I've seen pictures of the backside of a 116X cabinet and I can see the tan colored plastic on the back of the dial glass but can't make out any details on how it is attached.
![[-]](https://philcoradio.com/phorum/images/bootbb/collapse.png "[-]")
