The White Elephant 116B - Printable Version
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The White Elephant 116B - klondike98 - 11-15-2018
The cabinet for the 116B I'm working on was painted white
I know this can be good if it helped preserved the veneer over the years; bad if its hiding something ugly and bad because it can be difficult to get all the white out of the nooks, crannies and grain.
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nwjrbsqayso55rn/philco116B_01.jpg?raw=1]
The escutcheon and dial glass are in pretty good shape. A small bit of paint flaking off on the dial glass but not too bad. Unless I mess it up along the way I will reinstall it.
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/qnh218zzn7bi8ot/philco116B_101.jpg?raw=1]
The grill cloth will be replaced with Kenneth Richmond's chevron cloth. The one in the cabinet was both glued and stapled with 16 one-half inch staples. Guess they were afraid it was going to come loose...
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ngzpl6smhpsw79/philco116B_102.jpg?raw=1]
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tns5m2ksmnsrego/philco116B_103.jpg?raw=1]
The glued side came up but took a little of the cardboard with it. Fortunately it will all be covered with the new grill cloth and structurally its sound.
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l47nigy8e3m1you/philco116B_104.jpg?raw=1]
I wanted to get a look at what is under the white paint so I could decide if the cabinet would be a keeper or not. I used the CitriStrip product since I'm working indoors and it got a lot of the paint off. A little odorless mineral spirit wipe took some more and the wood under the paint looks very nice. Just have to wonder what people were thinking when they painted it white. Whoever did the painting actually used some type of white primer and then a white topcoat. I think to get all the paint off I'm going to have to use a serious stripper with a small brush and do it outside. It will have to wait until spring
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zd1cgtemu367mse/philco116B_105.jpg?raw=1]
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kmlyy3t4gwc8ule/philco116B_106.jpg?raw=1]
RE: The White Elephant 116B - Phlogiston - 11-15-2018
Yep, outside.
Stripping cabinets is easier when it is cool, but not cold.
RE: The White Elephant 116B - Arran - 11-15-2018
It was most likely painted because the shading lacquer on the top and sides was flaking off, this seems to have been a common problem with Philco cabinets from the 1936 model year, and possibly earlier. I don't think I have seen a shouldered 1936 Philco cabinet, with original finish, without at least some flaking lacquer. At least whomever painted this example tried to do a decent job of it, rather then just slobbing it on with a tar brush, they removed the grill cloth, knobs, and escutcheon first, half the time they can't even be bothered, there is a Rogers on fleabay where someone did that.
Regards
Arran
RE: The White Elephant 116B - klondike98 - 11-16-2018
You are probably right Arran. As I stripped it, there was no toner lacquer that I could see on the sides or trim so whoever painted it not only primed it but they must have stripped the old lacquer off as well.
RE: The White Elephant 116B - John Bartley - 11-17-2018
(11-16-2018, 10:00 AM)klondike98 Wrote: You are probably right Arran. As I stripped it, there was no toner lacquer that I could see on the sides or trim so whoever painted it not only primed it but they must have stripped the old lacquer off as well.
It's almost too bad that they might have stripped it first. Very often when a radio is painted over the lacquer, stripping the paint will leave a finish that is more easily worked with. I hope you don't have trouble getting paint specks out of the grain. It's a classy looking tombstone.
RE: The White Elephant 116B - Paul Philco322 - 11-17-2018
Let's face it, they were out to get you. Revenge is making it look original.
If it doesn't work out just paint it fire engine red, 3 coats, and put the whole thing on Ebay as rare fire station radio.
Paul
RE: The White Elephant 116B - klondike98 - 11-17-2018
(11-17-2018, 11:16 AM)Paul Philco322 Wrote: If it doesn't work out just paint it fire engine red, 3 coats, and put the whole thing on Ebay as rare fire station radio.
Capt Picard would say "Make it so..."
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/dmohbs33hpueu8w/philco116B_107.jpg?raw=1]
RE: The White Elephant 116B - Paul Philco322 - 11-17-2018
I sincerely hope that image is a product of computer wizardry!
I hope it turns out all original.
Paul
RE: The White Elephant 116B - Arran - 11-18-2018
Even if the shaded parts were stripped before being primed, and then painted, the wood in those areas is tight grained, something like poplar, not open grained, so it shouldn't be too hard to remove, except in the moldings. The real P.I.T.A grain to get paint out of is Oak, Ash, or Mahogany, those are very open grained woods, walnut less so, but then again the lacquer was less likely to flake off of those areas as well, stiff brush or nylon scouring pad to remove the paint residue, in repeated sessions.
Regards
Arran
RE: The White Elephant 116B - OldRestorer - 11-18-2018
RE: The White Elephant 116B - John Bartley - 11-18-2018
(11-17-2018, 12:25 PM)klondike98 Wrote:(11-17-2018, 11:16 AM)Paul Philco322 Wrote: If it doesn't work out just paint it fire engine red, 3 coats, and put the whole thing on Ebay as rare fire station radio.
Capt Picard would say "Make it so..."
I know you are just joking, but .... I have a GE S22 here with the brass handle on the top etc, that was painted a flat burnt orange many, many years ago (probably in the fifties or sixties). The paint was sprayed, and was well done. It's obviously not original to anyone who knows them, but it looks very good and it's much preferable to a botched woodgrain recovery attempt.
RE: The White Elephant 116B - klondike98 - 05-20-2019
With warmer weather so I can be outside I've gotten back to stripping the white paint off the 116B. You can see where I left it with citristrip and a bit of mineral spirits but could not continue that indoors. I've used more mineral spirits and some lacquer thinner with 0000 steel wool to make this progress but there is a lot of white still in the pores, edges and cracks. I think it will take a brush of some type to get some of this....This is going to take awhile!
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/grb97ey3jsrneiv/philco116B_29.jpg?raw=1]
[Image: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4nxw320slsfxq7y/philco116B_30.jpg?raw=1]
RE: The White Elephant 116B - KCMike - 05-20-2019
Starting to look like you're getting there.
Went through a similar deal with a 90 cabinet. Like you started with citri strip then went to lacquer thinner and acetone mix. Took many applications to get it all off.
Hang in there and good luck.
[Image: https://i.imgur.com/8amBKes.jpg]
[Image: https://i.imgur.com/wZpzQw5.jpg]
[Image: https://i.imgur.com/JALiUA1.jpg]
RE: The White Elephant 116B - klondike98 - 05-20-2019
Thx for the encouragement!
RE: The beige, yellow and green Elephant ! - Jake Blake - 05-20-2019
There must have been a time before restoration came of age, when it was all the rage to paint these things. My 89 B had THREE different coats of paint : a beige, a light yellow, and finally a light mint green.
And then after stripping, I made my own boo-boo.