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I have a stand up Silvertone that was a mess. While I have the motor being rebuilt, I decided to get that hideous dark finish off. I wanted to see the grain again and keep it as natural as possible. I used Citri Strip on the lid and it worked great. It sludged right off. I intend to do the whole cabinet. My question is...whats next.. Id like to do a light sanding, but is it safe and what grit should I use, I just want to get a nice uniform shade and smoothness.
After that, well I am dumb when it comes to polyurethanes, lacquers ,glosses etc. My desire is to keep that grain natural and have a light gloss to it. Can anyone recommend what to use? Thanks so much, Im a novice, but enjoying tackling this job.
Next I will replace the veneer on the turntable board..but I wont get ahead of myself here.

I think if you go through our "Tips, Tricks & Technical Info" section of this forum you will find lots of great ideas. Good luck .

Hi,
I have used the citris strip before and then used 80 grip paper to rough down the wood and then 220 grit to finish. The problem you might have is that the citris strip will leech out some of the stain coloring as well so it will come out a bit blotchy and you'll have to be careful not to sand to much off as the veneer is usually only a sixteenth of an inch thick. I have used a rag soaked with acetone to wipe over the cabinet and this usually smooths out the color.

As for the final finish, you may have to re-stain the cabinet to get the right color desired. That said, you might want to read up on grain fillers as you'll need to do that step to get a smooth finish. I use crystalac that can be used after the staining ( be careful when using water based stains with crystalac) and have had pretty good results. If you don't need a smooth finish then you can skip the filler.

Now to the final finish, if the unit is a 1920 or later unit, I use lacquer otherwise i use shellac.
I hope this helps
Brandt