I'm working on a Fairbanks-Morse 5BT2 cabinet that was painted by a previous owner. Stripping off the paint revealed scratches on both sides of the cabinet, the probable reason that the cabinet got painted in the first place.

Is there a way to hide these scratches? A dark stain might help reduce their visibility but I'd appreciate the insights of those with more experience which, in this situation, would be just about everyone on this forum. At this point the cabinet needs to have stripper residue washed off, and grain filler would be next on the "to do" list but I decided to hold off until getting your advice.

Stain will probably make it worse, not better. I can see no better solution than to sand it off to remove them, if you go through the veneer, replace it.

Brett

p.s. As an aside, the unscratched part doesn't look too good to me, either, very coarse grainy wood. Are you sure that the veneer is not gone already? If so, sand it flat, put on some more veneer, finish normally.

Agreed, sand out the scratches. Dampen a cloth with water and moisten the area carefully, do not drench. Any scratches will show with the water. If none, moisten the entire area and give it the finish fine grit sanding. The moistening will raise the grain for the final sanding.

If you notice a cut through early, consider changing cabinet color scheme with the use of transparent toner. Each dusting of this type of toner will continue to darken until the "scars" disappear. Use of opaque toning on the trim moldings will draw the eye away from the sides to the front. Sort of optical trickery.

YMMV

Chas

If the marks are long thin dents rather than scratches where material was gouged out you may be able to pop them out by laying a damp towel on the cabinet and placing a clothes iron on it to steam the dents out YMMV.

Thanks for the help, everyone. Things are looking better after sanding with a medium grit. Several scratches are still visible near the rear (right) edge of the cabinet but sanding that area seems more prone to cutting through the veneer. Next comes more sanding with a fine grit, then it will be time for grain filler.

Looks good. Old veneers are generally thicker than modern veneers, allowing removal of some scratches and stains by sanding. You proved its worth a try. The FM cases used some asymmetrical figure like the "eyes" in yours. Many radios, especially consoles that aim for symmetry, avoid them. I like them and incorporate them in my woodworking when I find them. Making bookshelves today, I found a nice one, but it may never be seen.

John

Well done, it looked pretty hopeless in the first pic, but you were lucky the scratch artist stopped when he/she did.