I took an extra day off from work today, making it a 4 day weekend. My first PTO this year. As such, I decided to venture into a local antique shop I hadn't been inside in a while. Lo & behold there was a 1940 Philco model PT-61 with a price of $85 on it. Well the owner insisted on plugging it in and, as expected, all it did was buzz. I could tell he knew he wouldn't get that price for it....at least not from me....in unrestored condition. So I made him a proposition. I went back home and brought him my 1946 Sonora AA5 that I paid $15 for at the Jefferson, WI car show & swap meet last year. I had it nicely restored and when he plugged it in and heard it play, his face lit up. He said "I'll trade you even up". Well that was a no brainer! I swapped this common AA5
for this...
I left happy....I also picked up this candlestick phone for $50 which is a good deal too...
All in all a good day spent away from the daily grind!
Finished restoration on the "jewel case" today....
The biggest hurdle....the grille cloth. When I removed it, I could see it originally was white, with a dark green background. Well....I did the best I could to make it white from it's dark burlap brown color. I painted it! Yes, I painted it while, then followed up with a green Sharpie marker and tediously colored in the green portions between the white ribs. At least it has some semblance of the way it looked when new in 1940!
Hello,
Not only did you make a great deal on the PT-61, but you did a superb job of restoring it in a minimum of turnaround time. A definitely good job done!
I have a PT-61 I got from a friend a few years ago that was in his family since it was new in 1940. It was passed down from grandfather to father to son. When the time came to pass it to one of his sons or daughters they weren't interested. That's how I got it. BEWARE of the rubber wiring inside! Things are kind of jumbled up inside of it's compact chassis. I had to have quite a bit of the original rubber covered wiring replaced with the help of a good friend of mine who frequents this forum (RadioRoslyn) who did a superb job of it and even corrected a few of my mistakes when I recapped it. It now plays well.
I hope I can find a repro back to mine and two original type knobs. Someone replaced the knobs at one time with somethging that looks like they were from a late 30's GE set.
If anyone knows of where I could get a couple of original knobs and a repro back please let me know.
The best of luck with your PT-61 and I wish you many long years of enjoyment with it. Thanks for posting your before and after pictures.
Very best regards,
Joie Cro N3IBX
(This post was last modified: 06-08-2016, 12:44 PM by n3ibx.)
