The PHILCO Phorum

I'm working on a 3D model of the Transitone Face for my 48-230 Radio.  I have no cabinet but I'm in the process of constructing a 3D model of this using .DXF files and Openscad.  It's not totally finished yet but it's getting there and because it's openscad, you can scale it to fit
Would anyone be interested in this?

.
The little radio knobs at the bottom are used to align the layers that make this up.  Have to add a circle around the dial opening still.

The first draft is completed, the files are located here in this folder:

Transitone Folder

Make sure you download the .DXF files, they are used by the PATTERN.SCAD program to produce the basic outline of the faceplate.

And here is the latest version:

Neat!

Hello Danial,
yes I think that is really cool and yes I would be interested!
it would make a great front for bluetooth speaker in my Classroom where teach I have a 3d printer FlashForge creator Pro .
Sincerely Rich
P.S. I have two Sony model Wm-1 walkmans that need to design a replacement part for .

Openscad is a great tool for making things like this.
It's at www.bingamon.com/Transitone

Or click here:  Transitone Link

Shortly I'll add an line by line explanation on how openscad produces the front grille.

Hello Daniel ,
Very cool thanks .
Sincerely Rich

Hello Daniel,
I did down loaded OpenScad and installed it on my Computer .

Sincerely Rich

I'm a computer programmer, but I'm going to try to make this simpler sounding for non-programmers.
So, I'm going through this line by line so that people will get a good understanding on how it works and maybe use it for other radio parts:

Line 1: $fn=200 makes any any circular component be made of 200 steps. So, if it were five steps it would make a pentagon.

The main logic actually begins on line 76:
loadbase(); This calls the first module 'aka subroutine' on line 3
3: module loadbase()
4: {
5: translate([0,0,0])
6: {
7: scale(1.1)
8: linear_extrude(height = 7.938)
9: import (file = "base.dxf");
10: }
11: }

The translate command anchors the results inside the curly braces to coordinates x=0,y=0,z=0
The scale can be used to change the size of the object. The base is the very back of the work that goes behind the chassis and you can drill it for mounting or change it's dimensions.

The linear_extrude command takes a two dimensional object "base.dxf" and gives it a depth making it a 3D object. So, I'm thickening the base by 7.938 mm. I made the base.dxf using a program called nanocad which is similar to old versions of Autocad. BASE.DXF is simply the basic outline of front panel or bezel.

The next two modules are enclosed in a "difference" command. This is a special subtractive function.
The first module inside the difference sets the material to be subtracted from, the second module defines what is to be subtracted.
The module "loadwork", it is nearly the same as loadbase but it's smaller and the height is set at the 8 mm mark. It's stacked on top of the base and it is the material that will be subtracted from.
1: module cutout()
2: {
3: for(x=[0:10:500])
4: {
5: for(y=[80:10:300])
6: {
7: translate([x,y,10])
8: cube([7,7,8]);
9: }
10: }
11: }
The module "cutout" is using X and Y coordinates as a loop to make a bunch of tiny cubes that will cut out the holes in the "loadwork" object. The X loop shows starting at 0mm, stepping by 10mm, and ending at 500mm.
Note, the Y loop is inside the X loop, because of that it will restart counting with every iteration of X.
I didn't have the exact measurements. I did this whole thing from a photo. I'm imported the photo into Nanocad and then traced the shape with lines, arcs and circles.

After the difference command is closed (note: you could have more items in there to take away from the loadwork object) the next module is speakerbars.

So, speakerbars is next
1: module speakerbars()
2: {
3: for(y=[87:10:270])
4: {
5: translate([50,y,8.8])
6: cube([217,3,8]);
7: }
8:
9: for(x=[77:10:270])
10: {
11: translate([x,85,8.8])
12: cube([3,180,8]);
13: }
14:
15: }

So, here the first loops counts from 87 to 270 and steps in increments of 10.
During that, it positions to just to the bottom of the speaker hole and makes a horizontal bar using the cube function that bridges across the speaker hole. Now, if you printer has problems with bridging that distance, you can change the depth of this to make the bar go all of the way down to the same level as the solid base piece.
The second loop using X, counts from 77 to 270 in steps of 10. This starts at the left of the speaker hole and goes to the right of the speaker hole and bridges across with vertical bars.

The next difference instruction draws cylinder over the dial hole. Then it uses the difference to make the cylinder hollow with a smaller (yet slightly taller) cylinder. The nice thing about difference that it doesn't disturb any work outside the statement.
91: difference()
92: {
93: translate([342, 183, 0])
94: cylinder(d=152.0,h=20);
95:
96: translate([342, 183, -1])
97: cylinder(d=142.0,h=22);
98: }

Then we need to add that Flying dart with
88: translate([0,0, 0])
89: loadwedge();

That module looks like this:
24: module loadwedge()
25: {
26: translate([0,0,8])
27: {
28: scale(1.1)
29: linear_extrude(height = 12, convexity=10)
30: import (file = "wedge.dxf");
31: }
32: }

So, the wedge.dxf is our flying dart file and the height makes it 3D at 12mm. I suggest you read up on the convexity command on the openscad site.

Now, finally the name goes on: (sorry, I know, that sounds too much like Zenith).

I put a single space between each letter and that seemed to space similarly to the spacing that Philco used.
Line 66, doesn't really do anything important, so I have deleted it here.
I use the translate command to position the text and make it height of 4mm and buried it slightly into the wedge aka dart.
I chose a Windows font, if you're not running Windows you may have to substitute the font. If the font is not found I believe openscad will use a default.
The linear_extrude function is used to set the depth of the characters, without it they would be 2D objects.

64: module letters()
65: {
67:
68: translate([180, 180, 20])
69: {
70: linear_extrude(height=4, convexity=1)
71: text("P H I L C O T R A N S I T O N E", size=10,font="Calibri", halign="center",valign="center");
72: }
73: }

And that is it. It's raining today and arthritis is bugging me, hands are numb so I've made this bit shorter.

Additional note: On .DXF files I left little circles that are the volume knob positions. I used this to make sure that the layers of each .DXF object would line up properly.

Also, if this doesn't fit your radio properly, you can encase the main commands inside a scale() statement and rescale it to whatever you want. Why you even make a tiny transistor radio into a mini Flying Dart set if you wanted to.

3D is the coolest thing ever. And the very fact that it became available for personal purchase is amazing.
It has not even been 10 years since first people started buying it.
We in R&D at my company bought a 3D unit just about 2 years ago.

Я этого не понимаю.

Easier for me to try and understand Russian than programming languages.

And this is coming from an IT specialist.

Hello Danial,
here is my scaled down print .
It is like 3inches high and 7 inches long 
my Idea is to build a cool little bluetooth speaker .
Sincerely Rich 

Looks nice, just a little clean up and just the raft out behind the speaker.
I have a recently revised version of the code that beings the crossbars deep to avoid a raft:

module speakerbars()
{
for(y=[87:10:270])
{
translate([50,y,0])
cube([217,3,16.8]);
}

for(x=[77:10:270])
{
translate([x,85,0])
cube([3,180,16.8]);
}

}

This is just a suggestion, but have you thought of making a grille for a Philco 49-506? it might be easier to build a cabinet for one of those since it's a rectangular wooden box, the grill has the same "flying wedge" pattern though.

https://philcoradio.com/gallery2/1949a/#Model_49-506

Regards
Arran