The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

My grandmother purchased a beautiful brand new VVX-324975 floor model. Many years later, it got stored in their outdoor shed, in the Pacific NW. Due to these conditions and all that moisture, it ruined the clear finish. It was badly crackled/damaged and, the mahogany veneer on the double doors started to lift up. When I inherited it - I took some super fine "0000" and lightly removed all of this damaged clear finish coat. After many years of letting it get acclimated indoors in my living room, the wood now looks beautiful, and luckily that moisture didn't effect the mechanical parts - it plays like it's brand new!
My questions are:
*Would you have removed that badly damaged/crackled clear finish coat? vs let it stay original?
*What would you use to clear finish it now? Or would you use an oil instead - like Tung oil or something like that?
"What is the brand, and name of the color that you would use to get that original reddish/purple color? (To re-stain a small, lighter section
to make all of the cabinet the same color again?)

Any comments/thoughts on this, would be appreciated, Thank You!!!!!

Is it just the clear coat which has been removed? (either shellac or varnish, based upon age of the machine...if you conduct a search I believe there is a data base out there of model by serial number...) or have you removed veneer, as you write about replacing the stain color? Is the wood bleached of color? It sounds like you have a mahogany cabinet. A picture is worth a thousand words on here, so try to post one and I'm sure you'll get advise. John