My GV has a cabinet area that somebody may have had a toaster near or something else idk. It's got a very slight chaulky finish. Do the cabinets have a spray coating? I scratched with a fingernail and it just flaked off, wiped it with some Howard's and a super rich wood tone was revealed below. May have to blend it with some 4/0 steel wool.
Based on what I have seen and the durability of the finish it is most likely a sprayed on catalyzed lacquer. It is hard, clear and very durable. A sanding sealer may have been applied first. This seals the wood and fills wood pores. It is easy to sand and makes a good base for any finish. It looks like there was no stain used. Walnut and cherry will change color in response to UV (sun) light. When I am making new wood parts for my coach I use a variety of products to adjust the new wood color to be somewhere in the middle of all of the wood colors in the coach.
There are brushable lacquer finishes you can try. They come out pretty smooth. You can adjust sheen after the fact by rubbing out the finish with very fine steel wool or 3M ScotchBrite.
Per David Flanagan, at least the later 1990's and early 2000's coaches typically had Sherwin Williams sanding sealer as a "finish", nothing more. When we redid the TV cabinet in our 2003 and needed to finish a piece of black walnut to match the rest of the coach, that's what we used (after consulting with David) and it was a perfect match.
I have heard this before. I don't doubt that that what was said or heard but even SW lacquer sealers are designed as hign build, easy to sand fairly soft undercoats for a final finish. With nearly 50 years of woodworking experience the only finishes that I have seen that hold up to hands, humidity (high and low), sun and time the way the finishes in our coaches do are catalyzed lacquers. Most of these are a bit nasty to use. My finish of choice is a nearly foolproof hand rubbed catalyzed oil with a final beeswax coat.
The plywood paneling FT used (walls, cabinet case surfaces, sliding doors and more) was made for FT and prefinished based on the labels I have seen. There was some fine skill there blending frame work, plywood panels and solid wood together and getting the finishes to blend.
I sure would like to spend a few hours in the FT woodworking shop. Too bad most of what they do these days are plastic laminates. They just don't do for me what the real wood and craftsmanship that it took to build the classic interiors does.
So any repair hints or suggestions, Howard's added too much depth. Not a woodworker per say, just want attempt to blend this blemish.
I have been working on my1986 Grand Villa and the only thing that I have found that melts the finish is as someone on the forum suggested Goo gone
wantabe
Call David and ask him! Bookie, who now works with David, came from the Cabinet Shop. They will know.
Phred, where is the damaged spot? It might be hard to change once you have used a wax based product on the damaged area. You might be able to clean the area well with turpentine and then sand it lightly with very fine sandpaper (600 grit) then use a wipe on poly, clear gloss, three coats and then sand and then satin wipe on poly, two coats. Rub out with very fine steel wool to adjust sheen and then wax.
Some care is needed in a visable area.