The PHILCO Phorum

I know this sounds newbie... well its because it is. Well, I am. I don't know where to start about cabinet restoration.

I am still working the internals, but want to start planing the wooden cabinet restoration as well.

here is my 47-1230 as it stands now:


I think someone stripped it out, or it is just very weathered by time. There doesn't seem to be any kind of lacquer and the coloration seems washed out. I have been trying to find similar cabinets online to see what its supposed to look like, and I think there's a total of 3 tones. The bezel around the glass window and knobs, the main body, and the trim near the top.

Before conditionning and sealing this, I have details I need to take care of.

First, there are two cracks near the bottom right "leg"


I am thinking of putting wood glue and clamping that together. Is it a good idea?

Then, the top panel is somewhat lifting, we can see it from the back. I guess it is normal with age. Its only a bit, on the side edges of the top panel seen from behind the radio


Should I bother fix that? I was thinking again of glue and clamps.


Other glitch, veneer. There's one chip, not big, not visible, on the far-end left side near the back.

Should I bother fixing it? if so, how do we fix veneer? I will definately not redo the whole section for such a small chip, but would like to have options before deciding.


Once those are done, I'll have tons of questions for cleaning and refinishing the cabinet... how do we clean, what do we do to regain coloration, do we seal... I have little woodworking experience. Sorry. ;)



Another thing. Knobs... do I clean them? how?

one is missing the metal insert, and I don't know where to find any. I hope to find something with a suitable replacement when lawn/garage sales starts this spring, unless I find a better solution. (maybe I should get a repro knob just for the insert. Do repro knobs have inserts?)

Any hints are welcomed, I am still very new to restoration. Thanks a lot.

Hi

There are guys on this Phorum, such as Steve Davis, Exray, and others (apologies for leaving names out, but I can't remember every cabinet expert here) who are very good at cabinet restoration and I'll let them give you the pointers since cabinet work is, admittedly, my weak point when it comes to vintage radios.

The first step would be to remove what little of the original finish remains. Then, do the needed cabinet repairs. By using a thin knife blade or other thin piece of metal, you can get some glue in the layers in back that are becoming delaminated, then clamp until the glue dries.

The cracks on the bottom molding can be filled with wood filler.

The veneer chip can be fixed, and it isn't that difficult. If I can do that, you can too You just have to cut a new piece of veneer to the same size as that missing triangular piece, and make sure the grain in your patch is running in the same direction as the rest of the veneer in that spot.

Toning? I do not have a good photo of a 47-1230, and I need one for my Philco Gallery (hint, hint) ;) ...but anyway, I can tell you that the bottom trim and the phono door/speaker grille should be Extra Dark Walnut; the body should be Medium Walnut overall, and the upper trim and perhaps the escutcheon would be Medium Dark Walnut.

As for the knobs. Some guys soak them overnight in a solution of dishwashing liquid and water. Others use dishwashing liquid, a little ammonia, and water, and let them soak a couple hours or so due to the use of ammonia. Then remove the knobs, go over them with an old toothbrush - not the one you are currently using in your mouth, but an old toothbrush or a cheap one you bought just for cleaning knobs. Rinse, dry, and then polish with something like car wax, Brasso, or even Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish.

There may be sources for knob springs, but in a pinch you can use a piece of metal cut from one of those old packages of small fuses. They used to be packaged in thin metal containers - now, they are in plastic packages, if they are packaged at all.

Soooo... that's why I couldn't find any 47-1230 on the main site!
Tell me what you need, and I'll supply pictures to you. (do you need before/after?)


Here's a few questions:

Where do we get veneer that matches our radios?

and... how do we strip the original finish? I do not want to damage it in the process, so I prefer asking first.
To be honest, I am not certain there's still any of the original finish that remains, everything is kind of dull on the radio, and somewhat dark. I think it is either aged, or stripped.
How can someone tell?

Marsupial Wrote:Soooo... that's why I couldn't find any 47-1230 on the main site!
Tell me what you need, and I'll supply pictures to you. (do you need before/after?)

It's listed in the Gallery...with a poor quality factory illustration:

http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/1947.htm#d

I'll be needing an "after" shot for the Gallery.

Here is one source of veneer:

http://www.constantines.com/veneer.aspx

There are other sources; a Google search on "wood veneer" will turn these up.

To make that patch, you'll probably want quartered walnut:

http://www.constantines.com/walnutquartered.aspx

Most chemical strippers available today are safe on the wood. In fact, most are made to be so "safe" that some will barely strip the finish off the wood.

Some guys prefer to scrape the old finish off. This usually requires a special scraping tool. And it must be done carefully, lest you make gouges in your wood veneer.

Whatever you do, don't just start sanding the wood; you can easily do more harm than good, especially if you were to use coarse sandpaper.

From what I can see in your pictures, there does not appear to be a lot of finish left, especially on that phono door/speaker grille.

Hi

A good way to get glue where the ply is separating is to use a straw. Flatten the end, fill it with glue, place the flattened end between the separated ply and roll the other end to force the glue into the separation. Then clamp.

Steve

One of the first things that you will need is a selection of woodworking clamps, pipe, bar, large C clamps, buy, rent or borrow them. The veneer has started separating because the cabinet was stored improperly in a damp environment at some point, age does not make it separate. One way that I use to glue down loose veneer is a hypodermic needle of a decent size, the ones they include with ink jet cartridge refill kits are perfect for this as as the syringe is over 5/8 in diameter and the needle is 1/16 inch or so. You take the plunger out and fill it with yellow carpenter's glue and inject the glue between the layers, then clamp it between some wooden blocks covered in wax paper or Saran wrap, then wipe up the excess that squeezes out with a damp rag or paper towel. I would do this before stripping the old finish off, it will prevent the glue from staining the wood and you won't get any stripper or crud under the veneer or in the cracks. It also gives you a chance to remove any glue stains while you strip the cabinets so you don't have to go back and do it twice.
Regards
Arran

Thanks arran!

It was coincidally my next question. I discovered one spot where the veneer is unglued - by looking at a chip I didn't notice before.


Its about 2 inch long by about half an inch wide. on the right of the chip on that picture.
Is there another source for appropriate seringe? That's definately something I will want to do before restorint the finish, in order to prevent future chips. The veneer on this really IS thin.

Searching online made me realize some veneer suppliers offers veneer by samples. For the size I need for fixing that, samples will be an excellent and cheap way of getting what I need.
I am not very knowledgeable of wood types, anyone could tell me what type of veneer would the 2nd spot be?

I think I lucked out about the missing knob spring metal insert thinggy.
I found another loose knob in my parts bin, I think it came from an 80s answering machine, but had the same diameter shaft.


Ok... had to reshape the insert to fit in my knob, but that wasn't too hard and did fit quite easy


so now all my knobs have inserts! it works like a charm.


altough I should have cleaned it before putting metal parts... guess I'll take it off when I soak the knobs in soapy water...

For all the newbies out there who want to get into antique radio cabinet restoration with both feet and continue as a hobby. I strongly recommend "Bret's Old Radio" DVD instructional series, especially the ones dealing with wood and plastic cabinet restorations and his radio alignment one is also very good.
Bret does a great job showing how to complete a proper veneer patch. I have used his techniques with very good success...
Britt