The PHILCO Phorum

I've done this on a few Philcos. This happens to be an American Bosch. I attach metal hardware cloth (the kind with 1/4" squares) to the plywood first. This is on the grill cloth side. The grill cloth then goes on to the metal cloth. It keeps the grill cloth flat. There's no chance for a speaker "circle" to form. Only I know that it's there.

Can it rattle on base notes?

I would think that the pattern from the hardware cloth would show up in time.

Eric

Quote:Can it rattle on base notes?

Never noticed......and I do blast 'em with almost all bass.

Quote:I would think that the pattern from the hardware cloth would show up in time.

The holes are pretty small, though. The first time that I did this was for a console that I had consigned in a shop. The thought of the grill cloth being poked in and ruined was the impetus.

One potential problem that I could see from using hardware cloth is that if the cloth absorbs some moisture, that moisture could react with the zinc or aluminum plating and cause stains in the cloth, that and the nail/upholstery tack heads, of course you could prevent that by painting the hardware cloth or by putting a layer of open weave fabric underneath the grille cloth. One alternative to add some strength may be to use that old style bronze insect screen, the bronze is a little more resistant to oxidizing then zinc. I usually just install the cloth the same way the manufacturer did, we don't have any little ones running around poking things around here anyhow.
Regards
Arran

Interesting.....

Seems like I have seen this somewhere, but can't remember where.

Agree that if for some reason the "chicken wire" rusts, it could potentially bleed over to the cloth. Perhaps galvanized is the way to go?

It is a good idea. I would not use it because my radios are not threatened by small children and such. Therefore I can keep them original. But if that were a concern, this would work well, especially since grill cloth is priceless now.

245

I have three small children. Amazingly the are good around "daddy's radios". A few of my radios I have used aluminum window screen to help protect the cones and help keep the cloth flat. Has worked for me for several years now, and screen is small enough you can not tell it is there.

I'd spray the screen with flat black (both sides) to keep reflections and rust out of the picture.