The PHILCO Phorum
Philco 650B, newly refinished - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: Philco 650B, newly refinished (/showthread.php?tid=1041)

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- etech - 07-08-2008

I am open to any and all comments and I would never consider any constructive comments criticism. While Andrea and I feel fairly comfortable doing the cabinet refinishing now, we are by no means experts. There have been many times when we have refinished a cabinet or parts of it several times, before we achieved the 'look' we wanted.

But, with that said, it is really hard to get a true picture of how the radio actually looked when it was new, even with a very well preserved finish, for two reasons. One is that walnut veneer naturally turns more red with age. Secondly, old lacquer finishes, even the best ones, turn yellow with age. Now, I realize I am nit picking here (obsessing), lol! I guess, overall, you do the best you can to make the radio appear as close as you can to how it looked originally. And, as long as it looks good to the owners eye, that is what is important. After all, who is to say what it really looked like.

But, we have decided, to remove the toning from the front panel, and re-tone it with less red.

Thanks for your input.

Ed

- etech - 07-12-2008

Update. I stripped the front panel and re-filled the grain. I have re-toned the front panel with Mohawk Ultra Perfect Brown. I think it looks better now.

Front - Reddish cast
[Image: http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q136/etech_photos/Philco650BTone5.jpg]

Front - More brown
[Image: http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q136/etech_photos/Philco650BRedo1.jpg]

Side view- Reddish cast front panel
[Image: http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q136/etech_photos/Philco650BTone3.jpg]

Side view - More brown front panel
[Image: http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q136/etech_photos/Philco650BRedo2.jpg]

I was having trouble getting the camera to display the front panel as it really is. These are the best photos I could get.

Ed

- batterymaker - 07-14-2008

I like what I see!

- Michael Dennis - 07-14-2008

I agree. It looks very nice.

Mike

- etech - 07-18-2008

Thanks guys. I think it is ready for the final clear coats now. That may be a few weeks, since I have to spray outdoors. I have to wait for the right weather conditions, i.e. low humidity.

Ed

- etech - 07-24-2008

Well, we finally got some decent low humidity weather, so I was able to spray the final lacquer clear-coats on several radios in the last two days. Here are some pics of the 650B I have been working on.

Before any work was done
[Image: http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q136/etech_photos/Philco650BCab.jpg]

Final right side
[Image: http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q136/etech_photos/650BFinalRtSide.jpg]

Final left side
[Image: http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q136/etech_photos/650BFinalLftSide.jpg]

Final Front
[Image: http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q136/etech_photos/650BFinalFrt.jpg]

Now I need to order that new grill cloth. And, oh yes, I really have to rebuild those darned Philco 'tar baby' capacitors. Yuk! Oh well, its worth it.

Ed

- BDM - 07-24-2008

Very nice Ed Icon_wink That's going to look SWEET when she's all together and playing. Ahhhhh, those cap blocks are nothing Icon_lol

Re: Philco 650B, newly refinished - BDM - 09-04-2008

For those that don't check the cabinet forum, another Barry Jones refinish
http://www.philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=1339

Re: Philco 650B, newly refinished - Doug Houston - 09-05-2008

It's safe to say that the frontends in al of those '36 3 band Philcos were outstanding performers. While the RCA tuners that year were exceptional, Philco had the jump on everybody except Scott from late 1932. Philco's 16 sold like hotcakes, and to Philco's surprise, it wasn't the extanded audio of the 16, but the customers were going after the shortwave bands. True, some did notice and appreciate the higher fidelity of Philco, especially the ones with the U-2 speaker.

But, you have to wonder why RCA (my other favorite) took so long to figure out how to make an all-wave radio with bandswitching as we came to know it. RCA's best accomplishment was their 140 family in 1935. They couldn't mount their coil groups in a turret configuration, but they had a big rack in the chassis that was in the way of everything you needed to get at in the set. You have to remove the coil rack to service (or re-cap) the set! I've done it, and it ain't fun. Fortunately, it was the last of RCA's abominable deep chasis sets. Alan Douglas once remarked that many manufacturers, including RCA, didn't know how to make a small radio.

So, for those who are just now seeing how their Philco receiver performs after re-cap and alignment, Don't expect everyone to do handsprings and cartwheels over it with you. We've all been there before.

Re: Philco 650B, newly refinished - Robert - 09-14-2008

Ron;
I just finished restoring the chassis of a 116b but I need to get the shadow meter working right.
The cabinet, I used a re finisher to remove the old finish. There is a little of the wood missing in the brown stripe. Any ideas on how to repair that?

Re: Philco 650B, newly refinished - radiorich - 02-07-2009

Hello Ron,
Barry did do a nice job on that cabinet .
Far as doing alignmet my siginal gen is acting up I need to get a solidstate one instead of tubes one.
Sincerely Radio Rich
P.S. I wish my first refinising job would have turned out that nice problem I ran in to is on the sides trying to tone the Popular to match the from my front turned out nicely but I should have lighten a light around the knob area but anything looks bettwer then painted with off white laytex I didn't think that laytex would ever come out of the wood grain also the duby painted the knobs too.