Pye VHF3D

[stuart_morgan_64]

I need some advice, a idiots guide, how to tidy this one up. It seems like a high gloss paint finish, you can't see the wood grain although I think the flash makes it stand out a bit.

There is paint splashes from home decorating, I have found meth on plastic good for paint. The finish has gone dull and almost a bit frosty.

Any advice please. The radio is ready to assemble.
Stuart

[G6Tanuki]

Sometimes, you can 'pop' paint-splashes off the surface using your fingernail or similar stiff-but-flexible thing [old credit-card?] and then see what damage has been caused to the finish.

Other times I've had to use a small pin-chuck-held needle poked into the paint to break it up bit by bit and tease the fragments out of the underlying grain. This worked well on the wooden 'cheeks' of a £5-at-a-car-boot-sale Roberts R606 that had suffered the indignity of a matt-Magnolia spattering.

[David G4EBT]

Personally, I use U-Pol fine grade pads which are used in the motor trade for re-finishing when spraying car bodywork. The don't clog and they last for ages - far better in my experience than wire wool or wet and dry, (which risks cutting through the veneer). Originally the cabinet will have been sprayed with lacquer, which may have been cellulose, but could well have been water based due to safety concerns about the use of cellulose in factories. It may have been sprayed with dark toner first, then clear lacquer, or the lacquer itself may have been dark. Either way, it's best to only cut it back as far as you need to in order to remove any paint or other blemishes.

Presumably you'll want to restore the high gloss finish, in which case Rustoleum polyurethane clear gloss lacquer should be compatible with the existing finish. I've just restored a wooden cabinet on a Unitra 'Figaro Special' which had a high gloss finish using a U-Pol pad and this lacquer, cutting back with the pad after each coat. I cut it back in the workshop, but spray in the Greenhouse when it's warm enough as it's the most dust free place. It's been 22 C in there today, which is fine. When set, I bring it into the house to harden off.

You might well find the lacquer locally, but if not, you'll get a 400ml can here for £6.00 plus £2.95 P&P:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/36101...s=true&ff13=80

I get my U-Pol pads from a trade stand at a monthly auto-jumble near York. They come in coarse and fine grades, and you'll find a pack of ten fine grade ones suitable for your needs online here:

http://www.trekoverland.com/products...iversal-da6395

I'm only speaking from personal experience - others may have different ideas. The last large cabinet I restored was a Pye Fenman 1, which had a ghastly tar-like finish, which I assumed someone had daubed on, but later found that it was original, but well past its best. A coupe of pics are attached - first one is as found, second one is after restoration, but is from the front, so doesn't give much of a view of the top.

Best of luck with the cabinet Stuart. (Nice set by the way).

[Radio_Dave]

Try some T-Cut on it.

David

[Nickthedentist]

Or even Brasso, followed by normal, household, aerosol furniture polish.