Vintage Hi Fi - partial refinish issue

[Pete Vranich]

Hi -
Please welcome my first post to this forum although I've often used it in the past to help my my amateur refinishing jobs.

I recently got my hands on a 1955 Zenith Hi Fi. It's fully functional, but the top had to be refinished. I'm really happy with my results on that one, especially since I had to match the vintage color and I was working with old veneer.

However, I'm having an issue with one of the legs. There was a blemish on the leg and a heavy black mark. I lightly sanded with steel wool and then tried a finish restorer; that was my first and last time using a finish "restorer".

After using it, the wood became very black, splotchy, and looked downright awful. So what I did was continue to sand the sucker...now I'm at bare wood. I believe the wood is maple...it's very hard, dense, and white. Looks a lot like a guitar neck.

I have tried to stain it, but first attempt highlighted the grain (the very little there is) and again became very dark. You can see in the picture that this will not do. The legs on this piece don't show any grain. So I tried to "seal" the grains with a teak/tung oil mix. That sure helped seal it, but now no stain sticks.

The issue is I can't completely refinish this thing. Since it's fully functional, I don't want to risk the electronics.

Does anyone have an idea of how I can "patch up" this bald spot in the finish? I would love it to look perfect, but I need to manage my expectations here. I'd just like to blend it in somehow and not catch the eye so much. Any words of wisdom would help.

Much obliged,
Pete

[Steve Schoene]

It's quite a challenge. Given the relatively dark finish over the light wood, I'd guess that the color is mostly in the finish, as a toner. This likely obscures the grain of the wood to a degree. I'd start with a coat or two of blonde shellac to seal the wood so you can keep the finish out of the wood grain. If you don't you are likely to accentuate the grain and even were you to get the color to match it would be hard to hide the enhanced grain. Then to build up the color, you would want to apply a finish that has been toned by a bit of pigment a bit lighter than the finish. I like to use shellac and some dry pigment to do this. The best reason to use the shellac is that it allows you to start over by just removing it with DNA. Don't make it very opaque, just build it up with a number of coats, particularly if you aren't able to spray. Using many coats helps even things out. You may have to adjust the color as you go by altering the mix a bit. You can also adjust the color with a little TransTint dye in shellac. When you have the color right, give it a couple more coats of blonde shellac and then rub to approximately the right sheen.

This is the very hardest job to get to look good. Professionals are aided by having an array of colored toners, both dye tinted and with pigment, that are provided in aerosol containers.

[Pete Vranich]

Steve - thanks for acknowledging the difficulty of this work. I've been at my wit's end experimenting with different ways to get this done.
I will sand it one last time with the steel wool to get it as white as possible, then use a coat of shellac as you suggest.

As for the toning, should I add the pigment to the shellac until it looks right to the eye? I will try to err on the lighter side, but should I expect the mixture to darken as it dries? Do you recommend a brand of pigment to use?

Now, about the "good" part of the leg...should I mask off areas that I don't want to shellac, or will my mix of shellac and color not stick to the finished areas? Should I wipe on the mixture, being careful not to cover the unsanded parts?

I'm really sick over what I've done to this leg, given that I've really got the top and sides looking good. Amateur mistake I suppose...thanks for the tips - at least now I have some direction.

[Pete Vranich]

It's been awhile since I posted the original question in the forum and I want to close the loop.
I tried using TransTint dye in shellac, but I could not get it to finish well. My thought is that it was because I was brushing the tinted shellac instead of spraying it.
After about three weeks of trial and error I found the right product: Behlen Jep Spray Lacquer Toner. I used the medium brown walnut for this job.
It's not a perfect match, but it's darn close. Thanks to the Jet Spray I didn't have to refinish the whole thing and risk the working electronics.

Here's a pic of the finished product.

Steve - thanks again for the advice.

[Ken Garlock]

You did a really good job on the restoration. Hummm, 1955, I'll bet it has bottles in it. Kinda early for transistors.....