Someone told me there is a guy named Bruce Latch who did a Zenith cabinet refinish and did nice work. I have some stuff to refinish and wonder if any one else used him. I dont want to send my cabinets across the country if hes not the guy.

I think he does a pretty good job with radios. He posts some restoration videos on youtube. Here's a thread with people's opinions on him: http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/vie ... 1&t=248851

I have never had a radio refinished by him, so I can't personally tell you about him.

Another good person for radio refinishing is forum member Fred Taylor. Fred does some amazing work. Just look in the cabinet restoration section here.

Meatloaf I have to tell you about Fred Taylor in the Dallas area. He is the best radio cabinet restorer I have ever seen. I also refinish radios, but when I got my hands on a zenith stratosphere 16a63 I took it to Fred from my home in Tennessee. Also took an ebony mcmurdo silver Norwich cabinet and a mcmurdo Bristol cabinet. I am going back in the near future to get my zenith 12s267, my Arvin rhythm maid and rhythm baby, my Scott Napier and a couple others. I wholeheartedly recommend fred for my top end treasures. You can't do better. Look at pictures in this forum and contact me if you want.

thank you. fred has amazing pictures but im afraid that comes with a high cost lol

It would not occur to me to ship anything for refinishing.....Any town of reasonable size is going to have furniture refinishing shops. Even driving 100 miles RT would cheaper and safer than shipping.

If you have a nice collectible radio I would ship it to Fred . Pack it well and it will be ok

+1 with Mark. Only problem is finding a person who does good work within a 50 mile radius ? Read some horror stories from folks who have had cabinets done in the UK.

Gary

Fred Taylor does terrible work! I keep trying to get him to ship his cabinets to me, but so far, no go.

Some of the furniture refinish shops I've seen around here do awful work. There was an antique store on S. Broadway that featured furniture refinished in the back. The work appeared to be a basic dip strip followed by light sanding, a little stain then tung oil. No toner, no grain filler.

Pretty hard to recommend if we don't have even a rough idea where you are .... even a State or Province would do.

I don’t know anything about the guy mentioned, so I’ll make no comments.

I went to a furniture maker/restorer to get my cabinet stripped. He wouldn’t touch it for fear of ruining the veneer. He told me I’d be better off doing the work myself but offered to shoot the clear when ready. He said that the amount of time it would take him vs the cost would not be worth it to him. I took his advice and did it myself.

After asking around, I came to the consensus that many places won’t work on radio cabinets. I wonder if they don’t have a grasp on what they should look like when done, or what they were like originally, so they say no.

Did you say Stratosphere?

I picture your trip from Tennessee to Dallas sort of looking like the Nazi caravan carrying the Ark of the Covenant to it's destination through the desert! Wow!! I've never even seen on of those in person, likely never will.

Awesome.... Just awesome!

I have seen one in person, and my thought was...

Awesome.... Just awesome!

Two very rare Radios, deserve the best when it comes to the cabinet finish.

Fred, if you ever need a person to hold your sandpaper, let me know. I'd drive the 15 hour trip just for the honor. And..... If I learned something in the process, well...... so be it!

I would love to L(earn) this art.

OK you can by my sandpaper boy.

Absolutely awesome work Fred!!