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Philco 49-607 questions - Printable Version

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Philco 49-607 questions - mornflt - 09-04-2014

If I have posted this before I apologize, but I am new here and never have seen the post.
Can someone please tell me what the metal strap holders where plated with.
Also it appers that the wood used for the cabinet was walnut, however it appears that a curved piece of pine was used on the rear top. Can you tell me what the original cabinet was stained with? Were there 2 different stains used?

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - tab10672 - 09-04-2014

Mine looks to be copper or copper plated.

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - mornflt - 09-04-2014

Thanks for the information. Has anyone tried those small parts plating kits? Or maybe there is someone who specializes in plating small parts at a reasonable price. One more question what are the feet made of. They look like tacks.

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - tab10672 - 09-04-2014

Look on utube for safe and easy home copper and nickel electroplating, (guy copper plates a quarter and nickel plates a penny) videos look like it will produce nice results on small parts.

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - OldRestorer - 09-04-2014

Hey,
I have the copper plating kit and it works pretty good. Not great but good.
I will have to break it out to give you the company name or I can send the kit to you that I have, just pay the shipping.

Kirk

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - morzh - 09-04-2014

Don't you break nothing out!
With your luck, it will end up on my 66!

Icon_lol

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - Arran - 09-04-2014

I have two similar sets, but they are the 1946 versions, and the hardware was copper painted near as I can tell, not plated. Even if they were plated I would not go to the trouble or expense of having that redone, these sets are very common, Philco literally built 100s of thousands of them so it would not be hard to find a better example. The wooden parts are maple or some other blond hardwood, not walnut, it could also have been beech or birch.
Regards
Arran

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - codefox1 - 09-06-2014

Agree, I've rescued a few '46 and '49 sets. Some had leatherette sides, and cabinet wood was all over the place, and the straps are almost always bad. I'f taken to removing straps and filling in cabinet top, removing leatherette and use tinted laquer to get everything looking the same. The leatherette backs are usually OK and just get wiped off. I also removed the troublesome AV/Battery switch an all the other battery stuff (don't expect anyone would want to rig up batteries and haul the set around.) But you can make a new handle from an old belt you had when you were skinny, yup, paint the metal clips copper or nickel color as you wish. Don't forget to dumb down the power supply at the last leg (filament supply) of the voltage divider to be correct for the string, definitely a must if you replace the rectifier with a diode.

The radio itself is very good, has an RF amplifier, and very nice sound with it's very efficient speaker. Sit next to a 2' X 2' tuned loop and you will be surprised at DX found!

And as said, you can usually pick up another one on Epay for $20-30 if you are patient.

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - mornflt - 09-06-2014

Looks like it is going to be a great weekend here for finishing my 49-609 cabinet restoration. I still need to know if this model was stained in two different colors. The curved wood is very light compared to the rest of the cabinet. Can someone please tell me if this is true and what the colors would have been?

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - OldRestorer - 09-06-2014

Hey,
From research I see a few different finishes. The most prevalent is extra dark walnut or black on the outside, perfect brown on the trim and a lite coat of medium walnut for the face and back curve. you could probably stain the face and curve as they will darken a bit when clear is applied.

From the outside to the inside it is dark to medium to light.

I don't own one but thats the colors I would use.

Im sure someone here will know exactly what is needed.

Kirk

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - Arran - 09-07-2014

The wood on that one looks more of a medium walnut colour, though I don't know why. Both of my 46-350s used a blond hardwood, probably maple or poplar, and it was all consistently yellowish like a hardwood floor. What happened with yours I don't know, probably the cabinet shop used whatever wood they had laying around and didn't worry about matching species or colour too closely.
As codefox said these typically used a rectifier tube, a 117Z3 in both of my 46-350s (actually one is a Canadian version, the model number escapes me).
I would stick with the 117Z3 unless you really need it to be instant on, but the tube rectifier does offer some cushioning on power up. There were plenty of portables that used a selenium rectifier, but they too have more of a cushion and a forward voltage drop then a silicon diode, so some re-engineering is in order.
Regards
Arran

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - mornflt - 09-07-2014

Does anyone know how the 90 volt battery was secured.

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - sam - 09-07-2014

my 46 just sits in bottom no strap
heres a close 48 one
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ELECTRICALLY-RESTORED-1948-PHILCO-48-350-WOOD-ROLLTOP-WITH-ALLIGATOR-TUBE-RADIO-/121430251854?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c45ce994e
sam

RE: Philco 49-607 questions - Arran - 09-07-2014

These used an "AB" battery pack that was held in by the back door, hence that strange multi prong plug, the Batterymaker could tell you which types would have worked. It's kind of a strange concept since the "A" section likely would have run down first while the "B" section was still good, unless they compensated for that by making the "A" section larger then a dedicated portable size "A" battery. The later tube portables dispensed with "A" batteries and used "D" cells in parallel. You could still operate one of these from batteries but you would have to engineer a holder to use modern types like 9 volts and "C" or "D" cells in whatever combo is required to supply the voltages and currents needed.
Regards
Arran