CR-1020 cabinet restoration

DRecovery

Pants-wearer
Finally fixed all the electrical ills my CR-1020 was suffering from, of which there were several! Now turning my attention to the cabinet. It has a few light scratches and some marks so I want to try Howard's Restor-a-Finish, which seems to get pretty high praise. I asked The Google and it says the cabinet is walnut. The walnut I am used to is brown but this cabinet has a very nice red tinge. I would hate to lose that color so I picked up both Walnut and Cherry Restor-a-Finish. Any idea which I should use? Anyone done this?
 
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You might have to blend the two to get the color to match.

Get a scrap piece of wood, and experiment with a few drops of each until you find a close match.

My CR 1020 case does have a very slight reddish tone to the brown. Could be aged "patina".
 
I've been a bit nervous to try this, but I remembered that I have a CR-800 parts unit. IIRC the cabinets are very similar. Similar enough for test purposes anyway. Going to try it tonight.
 
The experiment went very well. The CR-800 test subject had more of a walnut-looking texture and browner color but I threw the Howard's Cherry at it anyway and it had no perceptible impact on the color.

After that, I had no qualms about trying it on the CR-1020. It did a great job! The stuff isn't magic, but it's close. I followed up with their recommended wax and I am very happy.

Given that the color didn't seem to matter, it's possible the Walnut would have worked just as well. Also, I removed the grill out of an abundance of caution, but I probably didn't need to; I left it on the for the initial CR-800 test and it didn't seem to have any effect on the silver.
 

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Beautiful! I see what you mean when you write that "the stuff isn't magic" - but the blemishes that remain visible are so minor that it doesn't detract from the overall appearance. Looks fantastic!
 
Sometimes the depressions in the wood can be carefully lifted out with a little steam using an old iron. Be sure to cover the wood with a thin cloth, old t-shirt, etc.

I would probably also use the Howard's with a bronze wool or non abrasive Scotchbrite pad. In any humid clime, I'd avoid steel wool as it can get in the wood fibers and later rust if not kept well oiled.
 
Sometimes the depressions in the wood can be carefully lifted out with a little steam using an old iron. Be sure to cover the wood with a thin cloth, old t-shirt, etc.

I would probably also use the Howard's with a bronze wool or non abrasive Scotchbrite pad. In any humid clime, I'd avoid steel wool as it can get in the wood fibers and later rust if not kept well oiled.

I've used this method on many a gun stock. Surprising on how big a bump will go away after a few goes with a damp cloth and an iron.
 
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