Diminishing Old Sandpaper Marks

[Cody K]

I'm refinishing a mahogany Victrola that's had a colorful life: at various times in its history it appears to have been painted lime green, then blue, then stripped and given a remarkably bad mahogany finish that I at first suspected might be Varathane -- though thankfully it wasn't.

The finish has come off well, but there are a few areas where the person who refinished previously seems to have sanded across the grain with coarse sandpaper. The marks aren't terrible, but I'd like to diminish them as much as possible. I'm not using sandpaper at all, but rather coarse steel wool, followed by less-coarse steel wool, followed by least-coarse steel wool, and in tight corners, Scotch Brite pads. I'm trying to use these evenly, to avoid making spots that are obviously overworked. These have diminished the cross-grain marks quite a lot, but they're still visible on close inspection, because they're just deep enough and narrow enough to retain the dark stain from the previous finish. Washing with denatured alcohol has lifted some out, but I'm wondering if anyone has any tips that might help make them even less visible?

Thanks --
Cody

[JerryVan]

Cody,

To really remove them, you've got to sand the surface. Obviously with a much finer grit than what caused the trouble. You won't get the "overworked spots" if you use a sanding block and sand the entire surface in question and not just concentrate on the problem areas. By what ever method you remove the marks, be sure to re-stain the wood before applying finish. Staining will blend any variations in tone and give back the color that finish stripping takes away.

[Cody K]

Thanks, Jerry -- I think I probably will have to resort to a bit of sandpaper, but I'll have to whip up a tiny block to use it -- the worst of the marks are in the frieze below the lid (it's a Credenza) where the veneer runs vertical in a three-inch band. Obviously the difficulty of sanding that area properly is why someone sanded across the grain in the first place. I've made a lot of progress with Scotch Brite pads, maybe that'll have to do. You really have to look pretty closely to notice it now, and stain will hide it further, but I know the marks are there. I'm probably being a little too obsessive about the whole thing, but I want it done right.

[FloridaClay]

Perhaps some others can chime in on this point, but as far as I know Credenzas were all lacquer finished and the color is in the lacquer, not a wood stain.

Clay

[Cody K]

Clay, the shellac vs. lacquer question is another one I've had to sort out. For authenticity, I'd have to use lacquer rather than shellac. The Orthophonics were the first phonographs Victor used lacquer on, I believe, but the lacquer was sprayed on, something I don't have the space or equipment -- or the ability, without practice -- to do. The "blended" finish on the Credenza was accomplished, as I understand it, by using dyed lacquer in the darker areas.

I do plan to simulate the original blended finish while using stain and shellac, because I think it's essential to the look of the Credenza. Examples I've seen that have been refinished without any reference to the blended finish tend to look a little odd and flat. I'll have to experiment some on some junk mahogany before putting it on the Credenza, but I'm fairly confident that I can achieve the look by using stain very carefully on wood that's been first wet with thinner as a vehicle to help blend the darker areas in softly. This is the best way I can think of to mimic the blended finish, but if others have suggestions, I'd love to know.

Comparing a dozen or so pictures of Credenzas that have the original finish shows a good deal of variation in the way the blend was applied. In some, the variation between darker areas and the lighter body of the cabinet is fairly subtle. My plan is to stay on the lighter side, while still honoring the original appearance of the machine. Using shellac to do this isn't strictly historical, but I think it might be the best way for me to do this.

[FloridaClay]

Clay, the shellac vs. lacquer question is another one I've had to sort out. For authenticity, I'd have to use lacquer rather than shellac. The Orthophonics were the first phonographs Victor used lacquer on, I believe, but the lacquer was sprayed on, something I don't have the space or equipment -- or the ability, without practice -- to do. The "blended" finish on the Credenza was accomplished, as I understand it, by using dyed lacquer in the darker areas.

I do plan to simulate the original blended finish while using stain and shellac, because I think it's essential to the look of the Credenza. Examples I've seen that have been refinished without any reference to the blended finish tend to look a little odd and flat. I'll have to experiment some on some junk mahogany before putting it on the Credenza, but I'm fairly confident that I can achieve the look by using stain very carefully on wood that's been first wet with thinner as a vehicle to help blend the darker areas in softly. This is the best way I can think of to mimic the blended finish, but if others have suggestions, I'd love to know.

Comparing a dozen or so pictures of Credenzas that have the original finish shows a good deal of variation in the way the blend was applied. In some, the variation between darker areas and the lighter body of the cabinet is fairly subtle. My plan is to stay on the lighter side, while still honoring the original appearance of the machine. Using shellac to do this isn't strictly historical, but I think it might be the best way for me to do this.

I was extremely fortunate when my Credenza was refinished, as I have a real artist in cabinet work available to me here locally who did a fantastic job duplicating the original multi-tone finish. (I couldn't do the spraying myself either, as I live in a condo and have no shop.)

While it may or may not be the case with Credenzas, I will mention one issue I ran into with a VV 9-15 before I discovered that the finish was not shellac and the color was in the lacquer. There was a bad rub on one of the corner posts and for the life of me I could not get it to take stain well (in fact almost impervious to it). Turns out the corner posts are a different wood (hard maple, I think). Of course because the color was in the finish and not in the wood, Victor didn't have to worry about getting a uniform stain and could use different woods in different places where matching the grain was not critical--likely in this case using a different wood for the corner posts for strength.

Clay

[Cody K]

Clay, the molding at the bottom of the machine does seem to be something other than mahogany; it has a tighter grain. I'll have to go carefully in that area, so I'm trying to leave just a little more darkness from the previous refinish there, to compensate.