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Philco 41-240
I have a pretty warped plastic escutcheon that I need to replace. Where do you find such a thing... I've looked and can't locate one. Are there any alternatives? How about finishing it off in wood... anyone ever done that successfully -- I suppose it kills the the original look, but it might be better than a warped escutcheon.
I had a perfectly nice dial glass... until I tried to take the grime off of it with GoJo... it removed the numbers and scale! Don't say it -- I know I'm a real dummy. Anyway, now I have to replace the dial glass also. I've read alot about creating decals, but as you all know you can't print white -- so I don't know where to go with it. I'm pretty good in graphics and have re-created the dial scale in Adobe Illustrator, so I do have something to go from. Any ideas and all ideas most welcome. -- Joe
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Hi
Unfortunately, you aren't going to find a Tenite escutcheon that isn't warped to some degree. I've wondered myself how one of these would look with an escutcheon made of wood. It would take a bit of work...but, I believe, it could be done. (I have a 41-245 with no escutcheon, and a 41-246 with a warped escutcheon.)
No name-calling here...I think almost all of us have damaged or destroyed a dial scale at some time or another...but now you know that etech's fix for cleaning dial scales with mineral spirits only applies to the translucent amber plastic dial scales, not to the glass scales...
Inkjet and laser printers do not print in white. There are specialty printers, made by ALPS, that do. These are expensive, however.
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
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Ron,
I used a heat gun to lessen the warp by bending the sides outwards somewhat. It's still warped, but not as bad as before. As you know, you have to be real careful with the heat gun - it doesn't take much to begin meltdown. Maybe wood would be the way to go... I'll have to do some thinking on that.
Radiodaze has glass dials for the 41-235 and 41-245, but they don't list the 41-240 which is the two band broadcast and shortwave -- the one I need. I now know to treat the glass dials with respect.
Joe
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Here's an update on my trying to solve the warped escutcheon problem on my 41-240. I went ahead and decided to just make it out of wood - walnut in this case. I don't know if guys at Philco would have done it this way, but it seemed to me the best solution. Given the time and effort, I think I'd avoid doing it again. Anyway, for those interested this is how it turned out.
BTW: the dial was recreated using Adobe Illustrator to do the art work and sent to thrifty signs who made a clear vinyl static-cling label with white lettering that I attached to the underside of the glass. They do good work (sharp detail) and a great price...
http://thriftysigns.com
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Posts: 13,776
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Canerods
WOW! GREAT job! Now, in my opinion, THAT is how Philco should have done it to begin with!
Can you provide more details on how you did this, please?
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Ron Ramirez
Ferdinand IN
Posts: 26
Threads: 3
Joined: Aug 2008
Thanks Ron! I appreciate your comment.
The original escutcheon was pretty warped. I couldn't stand to put it back on the radio. I got a small piece of 1/4" walnut at the local Woodcraft store. I sawed 4 strips from it and used lap joints to form a simple window frame to fit the hole in the cabinet, letting it overlap top and bottom... I made the fit snug but not too tight. Then I cut the two triangle shaped end pieces from the same piece of wood. To attach it to the cabinet, I drilled tiny holes and used small brads to fasten the window and then fastened the end pieces. The holes were filled with a small dabs of wood putty. I didn't want to use glue, in case I need to remove it if I ever had to replace the dial glass.
I scored and painted the top to match the black paint band on the top edge of the original cabinet. You leave that out and it probably would look OK. The big problem was the dial glass which I had ruined the original when trying to clean it. I made a new one using a static cling label that I had made from art work that I drew using photos and a scan of the ruined dial glass as a guide.
It was more work than I wanted to do and I'd probably not want to do it again. But, the end result is much better than the warped escutcheon!!
Joe
