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a few philcos - Jerry Huelsbeck - 10-05-2005

Well, no questions to ask at this point, but the cabinet restoration section has been sitting idle for some time. I'll get things going with a few attempts at inserting some pictures. (Sorry if this doesnt work..... )
Heres a few past projects. The 14x and 116x were "glue em up" specials, while the 38-116x was in great shape, however the finish was covered with a profusion of scratches and nicks, probably due to its sheer size and weight and the trouble probably encountered when trying to move the beast.

Someone had attempted to modify the 116x with PP 6L6G outputs, but didnt quite finish the transition.... with a little help from Ron and Chuck a while back, I was able to get it up and running. The set needless to say has sufficient gain (grin!).

I sure wish winter wasnt coming so fast. I'm going to try to squeeze in two more cabinet projects before the weather gets too cold here (WI). I try and do several cabinets during the summer and then I can "hibernate" in the basement during the winter and dig into the chassis work.

Take care.

[Image: http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/1philco/1cbc3860.jpg]

[Image: http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/1philco/a496f770.jpg]

- Bill Hutchinson - 10-05-2005

Very nice, Jerry! Two thumbs up!!

Bill

Nice looking radios Jerry - 49Stude63 - 10-06-2005

Jerry those are some nice looking radios, especially the 38-116. I also have a 38-116 that someone did a restore on in the past (not the best, but not a butcher job) but I am sure my wife will not let me touch it to redo the cabinet. My next project is a 38-2, a nice rare 38 model with magnetic tuning. The 690 was the top dog for 38, then the 116, then the 38-1 followed by the 38-2, an 11 tube unit with 2 PP 6F6G tubes. It it turns out half as nice as the ones you have posted I will be happy. On the 38-116 is that black/ebony on the belt molding and the feet?

- Steve Chambers - 10-06-2005

Jerry:

Wow. These are beautiful. I have a 38-116. I'm listening to CHWO on it right now. I did an electronic restoration about a year and half ago. I haven't gotten up the courage to tackle the cabinet yet. I've done several table radios but never a console. Do you have any pointers? It's a great radio and I want it to look as nice as it performs. What sort of spray equipment do you have? Did you have to remove the grill bars to refinish them? Did you have to repaint the escutcheon?

thanks,
Steve Chambers

38-116 refinish - 49Stude63 - 10-06-2005

Steve really it isn't that bad to refinish, here is my 38-2 before and after stripping with citrus stripper http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=87&subpageid=201872&ck= and here is a link to some picture of my 38-116 after replacing the dial and I have since replaced the missing knobs with nos ones. http://community.webshots.com/user/49stude63 If you look at the mystery radio link I just sprayed that table model about 3 days ago and have not done the final we sanding yet.
You can use either a siphon feed or gravity feel spray gun, if all you have is a home compressor you would be better off with a non-hvlp type gun, cheaper and less demanding on your compressor. I mask off the back and behind the grille and dial openings so that I don't have massive overspray on the inside of the cabinet. Practice spray the laquer on a regular piece of cardboard so that you get the technique down, so you are close enough to get a good wet coat but far enough away that you don't get runs. Keep your gun to part distance the same and move with a nice steady side to side motion. almost like your arm was on a rail, sounds strange but it is not hard to get the feel for it. The 38-116 is like the 38-2 the grille bars should have a screw top and bottom and just unscrew them (carefully) and I would refinish the bars off of the cabinet, make a mark to id the location for each bar l-r what is top-bottom. If you take the bars off you don't get the puddling or bridging of the laquer at the mounting points.

- Jerry Huelsbeck - 10-07-2005

Hi Steve,
The escutcheon is original condition. It wasnt painted, appears to have some sort of chemical etching treatment to the metal maybe?

The belt band on the 38-116 (darn digital camera made it look darker than it is in reality) is shaded with toner.... darker on the sides, and light in the middle. As far as I could tell from the original finish, the feet were painted with black paint under the lacquer, not toner. I always take a million pictures of every little detail before I strip, then burn them on a CD for future reference of what the original finish was. If you look at 10 different radios of the same model and year, they are all slightly different. I like to take alot of before pictures as a reference, and to have as a backup if someone tries to say I did it wrong.... I try and duplicate whatever was there as close as humanly possible, sometimes succesful, sometimes not quite.

Currently I'm using an old Binks automotive type gun, with a home made compressor/ air dryer etc, but I'm saving my pennies (and playing the lotto) to get a good HVLP unit. My compressor isnt big enough to really keep up when doing a big radio, like the 38-116, so I've been checking out the hvlp stuff. The Accuspray 10g gun is the "standard" for hvlp --- I'll post a product review when I finally get one.
Take care.

- Ron Ramirez - 10-09-2005

Hi Jerry

Just wanted to jump in here and also say that I think those Philcos of yours look great!

- Guest - 10-21-2005

OMG these are BEAUTIFUL! the hi fidelity one in the lower right hand corner...I may get my hands on one of these...I'd be indebted to know how you got the colors so lustrous!

Scott

- Jerry Huelsbeck - 10-22-2005

Hi Scott,
- Thanks -
Heres the secret : http://www.joewoodworker.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=transtint

That and a little good luck.

Icon_mrgreen

Take care,
jerry.

- billvet6 - 10-31-2005

beautiful.