Zenith 12s568 a work in progress

[37silverstreak]

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to post some pics of my just completed Zenith 12S568 cabinet. I bought this set for $80 last summer off of Craigslist. 1941 is very late for my interest, but it is a shutter dial and I liked the different color faces for this model. Anyway, it was a mess. I wish I had some before pictures. The owner before me stripped all the finish including the photofinish and stained it red mahogany, then topped it off with a beautiful piece of yellow burlap for a grille cloth! This was a "why did I buy this thing" set after I got it home! So, it sat in the garage all winter. Finally I decided that in order to get it out of the way, I would clean up and restore the cabinet so I can at least bring it in the house. After stripping off the stain I found a very lovely cabinet hiding underneath! Now, with a month's work of patching, filling, sanding, sealing and numerous coats of toned and clear laquer, it's done and looking pretty decent! I was able to closely replicate the photofinish although it doesn't show up well in the photo's. it can now reside in honor in my home. Step number two- Rebuild the chassis!
Kevin
http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...568001.jpg
http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...568004.jpg
http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...568003.jpg
http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...568002.jpg

[codefox1]

Magnificent. You would serve forum well if you have some step by step photos and/or descriptions either here or in cabinet restoration forum. Far too many sets are sent to landfill because of photofinish Phoolery.

On to the Chassis, you have come to the right place! Post schematic or link please, and fire away with questions. Please do not plug it in yet.

[morzh]

Looks good! Wait 'till it plays!

[TA Forbes]

Nice!!!!

[Paul Philco322]

Looks super! When people ask what attracts you to vintage radios show them that one. I got no big really old Zeniths, enjoy yours.

Paul

[Arran]

You did a good job with the faux graining on the grille bars, it probably looks better then the Dinoc type decal they used in the first place. Did you use paint or ink to create that faux graining?
With regards to the previous refinishing job I've seen some "
Weekend Warrior" refinishes that would make you loose your lunch looking at them up close, some would do it from 10 feet away. The oil stains they sell in the hardware stores aren't much good for anything let alone refinishing radio cabinets, they muddy the grain of the good woods but don't obscure the cheap stuff much at all. The worst stuff to get off are those stain "N" finish products and polyurethane.
Every yutz out there who picks up a brush thinks he can refinish a cabinet, your brand Z set is testament to that. There are some on the Braking Dog Forum that think that "Cowards" restore a finish is the cure for flaking and dead lacquer on a cabinet, it isn't. There is also an annoying habit with some people, probably squirly antique dealers, to rub cabinets down with "refinisher" which is basically glorrified acetone, I have at least two cabinets where the finish was smeared around and ruined by that junk with no regard to where the shading began and ended.
Regards
Arran

[37silverstreak]

Thanks guys!
I wasn't left with much of a choice in the refinishing dept. on this one. This was one ugly set when i started. Anything I did to it was an improvement. As for the woodgraining, it was actually fairly easy. i've done a couple of non radio projects. As for what I used, I masked off the cabinet and sprayed a couple of coats of Rustoleum Khaki semi-gloss for the base color. I sanded that lightly and the applied Walnut Minwax Gel-stain in two coats. On the first coat I used a wadded up plastc grocery bag to simulate a walnut burl on the case. for the center pillars I used a stiff brush to grain. After it dried a bit I went over the areas with a soft brush to blur the graining. For the second coat I just used a brush to streak the stain on over the first coat. It's all a matter of playing with it. The good thing is if you don't like what you've done you can wipe it off with a rag and mineral spirits and start over. The pillars were the hardest part as they are curved and it was hard to follow the contours.
Gel stain works really well for this. But, if I were to do it again though, i think I would thin it just a hair as it tended to dry a little too quickly. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.
I've now started on the chassis restoration. Lot's to do there, should be interesting. Good night all!
Kevin

[Arran]

I didn't even notice that the burl was faux finished, unlike the grille bars those areas are something they could have used real veneer on if they wanted to. So it had a burl grain originally? I've noticed that faking birdseye maple, stump/crotch walnut, olive burl, and zebrano was pretty popular as well back then. My FADA 1001 originally had an olive burl grain on the front panel, also some of my Packard Bell sets used a faux grain, I haven't figured out what to replace it with yet.
Regards
Arran

[Steve D]

Really great work on that cabinet. It brings back memories of the first old radio that I bought home when I was a kid back in the Bronx in the '60s. I used to go on my bike scavenging for parts where they dumped household rubbish. I got virtually all the parts I needed for my projects that way.

One time I found this Zenith 12s568 (didn't know the model numbers back then) which was in a house fire and burned on one side of the cabinet. I took all the guts including the wavemagnet antenna initially for parts but when I got it home it was in such good shape I got it working and used it as both a radio and an amplifier for my "hi-fi". The chassis intrigued me as it used two triodes, 6AC5G's with a special driver tube, 6AE7, which I had never seen before.

I used that radio for quite a few years and then stored it in my parents basement. It made its way to my basement over the years and four years ago I decided to restore it. The chassis is now sitting on top of a home made speaker enclosure in the midst my Philcos in my radio display room which shows off the chassis and the warm glow from its 12 tubes. Perhaps one day I'll find another 12s568 complete radio like yours.

I will be interested in following your progress and if you need any help please contact me.

Steve D