I'm new at this, and I am restoring an American Bosch Model 04 -- a tabletop radio that was manufactured in 1935. I've done the electrical stuff and have now turned my attention to the cabinet. I've removed the old grill cloth and stripped the original finish, including the painted pinstripe and the American-Bosch decal. The little mahogany cabinet looks great (a few small "character marks" remain), but I have questions:

1. I believe the pinstripe and American-Bosch logo should be applied BEFORE spraying the cabinet with lacquer. Correct?

2. To repaint the gold pinstripe, should I use enamel or lacquer? (I believe enamel would "lift" if I spray lacquer over it.)

3. I've purchased a repro American-Bosch logo decal. Any issues with applying the decal to the stripped cabinet, then spraying lacquer over it?

4. What type/brand of lacquer is best for this project and how many coats should I apply?

I await and sincerely appreciate your guidance!

1/3) If it was *me* I would get the surface essentially complete (i.e. sealed, grain filled, toned, and a solid gloss lacquer surface) before applying the pinstripe or decal. You want to apply those to a solid smooth surface, and in the case of the decal, it needs to be a smooth gloss surface because otherwise, the decal will probably "silver", meaning it is not going to completely contact the surface, which gives a "silver" appearance in the clear parts. Also, use a decal solvent and setting solution. Then put more lacquer over it, just "dusting" the first few passes so your solvent doesn't cause the decal to melt and run.

It's not that touchy with most decal types, but you want to be a bit careful. You want to build up enough film thickness to be able to safely sand over it, and preferably to be able to sand out the thickness of the decal so it doesn't stand out from the surface, If you go through, you know what you will have to do. Most of the "home job"/"cottage industry" decals are pretty tough and pretty thick so it takes a bit of thickness to cover it.

2) I hear of people painting lacquer over enamel and acrylic, but that really scares me. I would use lacquer. It's too wide to use my favorite for stripes - colored ink in a drafting pen.

Brett

I would go with what Brett said.
The decal should be applied to a smooth surface. I always give the area where the decals have been applied a couple of extra coats of lacquer, just to make sure the decals don't get rubbed off.
Dan in Calgary

The decal itself is quite fragile and you have to do something to cover it up, or it will easily and quickly abrade away. Home-job decal kits like most of the suppliers use is much tougher than a commercially produced decal like on a model train, but they still need some coating over it to protect it. If nothing else the gloss will be different than the rest, and that will make it stick out like a sore thumb.

Brett

One other thing about applying decals. Don't put it on a sanded smooth surface. It'll look "cloudy" behind it. Put the decal on a smooth sprayed unsanded surface.

I appreciate all the great advice on decal application. The last time I applied a decal was sixty years ago when I built a model of the USS Forrestal aircraft carrier!

I was thinking a semi-gloss finish would look best on this radio, but it makes sense to do Brent's prep (seal, fill grain, tone) and then spray some high-gloss lacquer before painting the pinstripe and applying the decal. After that, I'll spray semi-gloss lacquer to cover and protect the pinstripe and decal.

One more question ... I purchased new grill cloth, and it needs to be glued to the inside surface of the front panel of the cabinet. What's the best adhesive to use for this?