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Refinishing a mahogany Columbia AR cabinet.

Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2018 4:12 pm
by Jerry B.
I recently purchased a Columbia AR project. I had hoped to save the original finish but discovered, after cleaning, that a previous owner had stripped a good portion semi close to the decals. That discovery led me down the path of a complete refinish including great Gregg Cline decals.

1 - I completely disassembled the cabinet removing all metal hardware.

2 - Cabinet was stripped.

3 - Cabinet was stained with Constantine Red Mahogany non-grain raising stain.

4 - Cabinet was shot with about five coats of Deft semi-gloss spray lacquer.

5 - Decals were applied following Gregg's easy to follow instructions.

6 - Many more, perhaps six, coats of Deft were applied. It's important to spray a finish coat before and after applying decals. The seemingly excessive number of coats of Deft gave me the piano finish I desired.

7 - Cabinet was gently rubbed with 0000 steel wool.

My goal was to give a "piano" finish. I could have filled the grain with a grain filler but I chose to apply many layers of lacquer to accomplish the same result. When you look at the finished cabinet notice how the light appears to bounce off the flat top and not from a grainy or bumpy surface. That's the piano finish that was my goal.

Jerry Blais

Re: Refinishing a mahogany Columbia AR cabinet.

Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2018 8:03 pm
by phonogfp
That looks great, Jerry - - congratulations!

George P.