[exray]

Thanks, y'all. I'm getting to the tricky part now. I've only done one other radio cabinet in the past two years and I'm losing my knack I'm making a lot of mistakes.

First setback was thinking I could get by without grain-filling the original top and front since they were sanded and not stripped. Thought it was minor enough to let the sealer coat take care of it. Nope, it wasn't to be. I re-did the the top properly and after letting it sit for about 48 hours I found I could do the grain-filling on the front without stripping off the sealer coat. I hear of people doing stain, etc on top of the sealer. Then re-sealed it. It actually worked out fine. That's not a recommendation, however!

Anyway, here's a pic of it all taped up for toning. At least I didn't screw that up.

[Image: http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q18/b...e4cc51.jpg]

I also got the first 'coat' done later in the day. I used a lightly tinted clear lacquer. It went on good but I now see in the flash photos I need to even out some toning issues. It actually looks much better in person - haha.

[Image: http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q18/b...aee5ba.jpg]

The big embarrassment is the veneer on the right-hand side. (not shown) I was down to scraps and had to use three pieces. The joints aren't all that good and they didn't really lay down good and flat. There's a bit of a bubble that can be seen now that the shiny lacquer is on it. Ugh. Not bad enough to totally re-do that side at this point. That side has a slight warp to it and I guess my clamping wasn't adequate.

Waxing philosophical - my Dad is an artist. He taught me a few things. One is that you don't see some obvious errors until you go away for a while and come back. The other is that you run the risk of making a small problem much worse if you fret over it too much. That advice certainly applies here.