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My "New" Philco 112! - Printable Version

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My "New" Philco 112! - Guest - 10-28-2009

[Image: http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t183/gregoryagogo/Radios%20Phonographs%20and%20Other%20Machines/IMG_2309-1.jpg]

I just bought this from a thrift store here in San Diego. I paid just under the original price! I was thrilled to learn that it was designed by Norman Bel Geddes when I looked it up here! My buddy who helped me move it said he remembered seeing a some kind of tag inside the cabinet with his name on it. I didn't plug it in, but everything looks original and pretty good! The radio unit is gigantic, and one of the tubes is the biggest I've ever seen! One day when I move it to a bigger place, and have someone there that knows something electronically, I'll plug it in... There's nothing on AM radio here in San Diego anyway! FM for that matter! I thought maybe I could fix it to play my ipod through the speaker and put a night light in the cabinet to light up the dial for effect to play the era's music and radio shows from it. It's a beautiful cabinet in pretty good shape! The only noticeable problem is the torn speaker cloth. The cabinet is all solid (and heavy!)... the only veneer is that part in the front with the deco design.

Someone brought in a bunch of old Radios and Phonographs from the '30s and '40s. One of the others that sold was a chairside model Philco! I just don't have room for this kind of thing! As it is my 112 went right to a storage unit! This is the chairside Philco that was sold already:

[Image: http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t183/gregoryagogo/Radios%20Phonographs%20and%20Other%20Machines/IMG_2310-1.jpg][Image: http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t183/gregoryagogo/Radios%20Phonographs%20and%20Other%20Machines/IMG_2311-1.jpg]

And they seemed to thing that these two went together... I'm not sure... but I bet you guys know! They said one was a radio and the other some kind of amp/speaker or something...

There are still more junky ones left like this Zenith and Silvertone:

[Image: http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t183/gregoryagogo/Radios%20Phonographs%20and%20Other%20Machines/IMG_2307-1.jpg][Image: http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t183/gregoryagogo/Radios%20Phonographs%20and%20Other%20Machines/IMG_2312-1.jpg]

...and a couple of others that aren't pictured... I remember one was a (looked like) '40s tabletop Philco with a very art deco grille.

I'm not intending to "advertise" ... but these units are still sitting in this thrift store waiting for someone to love them! If anyone is interested in these, I'll gladly give you the location.

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - Ron Ramirez - 10-29-2009

Welcome Gregory!

I have the highboy version of your lowboy 112. The difference? Longer legs and sliding doors that conceal the front panel and speaker area.

That chairside with separate speaker (yes, they do go together) is a 1935 Model 16RX. Very nice set. I used to own a setup like that. The speaker cabinet only contains a 10-1/2 inch speaker, nothing else in that massive cabinet. Too bad it's in San Diego...and sold already...

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - PTurney - 10-29-2009

Hi,

Mmm, I wounder if that 116RX is the same one from San Diego that just sold on Ebay. Looks like they just put in that new grille cloth.

http://cgi.ebay.com/160371723010


Sure would have liked to have walked into a store and found that one!

By the way, on your 112, if I read your post right I hope you're not planning to take out the original electronics and replace them with something modern. The old set is should be very restorable. If you want to play something over it from you ipod get a low-power AM transmitter (perfectly legal), such as the SSTRAN, and play that over the air in your home to the radio. Will sound much better!

Make sure the set is restored before plugging it in. You've probably read this:- http://www.philcoradio.com/tech/plugin.htm

Paul

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - Terry Judkins - 10-29-2009

I restored 112 several years ago.
http://home.comcast.net/~suptjud/philco112.htm

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - Arran - 10-30-2009

Why does everyone say that there is nothing on the AM broadcast band to listen to? Even if there isn't anything local there are tons of stations that you can tune in at night thanks to the skip signal. The Philco 112 was an early superheterodyne, with push pull 45s in the power output stage, it should work very well once restored. I like those Norman Bell Geddes designed cabinets, sort of a mix between oriental and art deco styling, hopefully I will find one one day. They were obviously good sellers in their day, and well built, since quite a few have survived. For whatever reason, in spite of being styled by a famous industrial designer, they don't seem to have any more of a following then any other Philco floor model. Maybe people don't like the hybrid styling?
Best Regards
Arran

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - Drew - 11-13-2009

You should contact Antique Radio Classified and get a back copy of their publiction - March 1996, Vol.13, No. 3 it has a great article on the Bel Geddes designed Philco's of 1931.

Philco financed Bel Geddes over $9,000 to do market research on styling preferences for the high end models 112, 212 & 370.....that was a huge amount of money to spend on cabinet design, but the results were fantastic - very classy modern cabinets which were ahead of there time.

I own a 112 with the 47 output tubes (later version), it's a great radio to look at and listen to.

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - Guest - 08-31-2010

Terry Judkins Wrote:I restored 112 several years ago.
http://home.comcast.net/~suptjud/philco112.htm


Nice! Love your "A Bench In the Park" Piano!

Sorry for taking so long to respond! I never got a notification and it took me this long to venture back! Icon_lol

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - Guest - 08-31-2010

Arran Wrote:Why does everyone say that there is nothing on the AM broadcast band to listen to? Even if there isn't anything local there are tons of stations that you can tune in at night thanks to the skip signal. The Philco 112 was an early superheterodyne, with push pull 45s in the power output stage, it should work very well once restored. I like those Norman Bell Geddes designed cabinets, sort of a mix between oriental and art deco styling, hopefully I will find one one day. They were obviously good sellers in their day, and well built, since quite a few have survived. For whatever reason, in spite of being styled by a famous industrial designer, they don't seem to have any more of a following then any other Philco floor model. Maybe people don't like the hybrid styling?
Best Regards
Arran


AM is all talk talk talk... certainly no great jazz tunes or swing from 1931 on AM!

What is "The skip signal?"

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - Guest - 08-31-2010

Thanks for all your replies! Sorry it took me so long to notice your posts! I never got a notification and it took me this long to venture back!

My radio sits in my storage where it has been since the day I bought it. No car, and no room in my studio. When I move, which I plan to soon, I'll hopefully have more room!

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - denver - 08-31-2010

Skip signal. Maxium usable frequency. The highest frequency radio signal that will reach a paticular destination. Using sky wave propagation or skip. Icon_wink

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - Radioroslyn - 09-01-2010

Noticed something interesting that my 1931 370 chairside has the sort of half round trim along the top of the lid. Same designer. That reminds me got to get stripping on the cabinet now that the top is flat again.

[Image: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3517/4001331561_799f743ec2_b.jpg]
Philco Model 370 Chairside Radio by TBS-50, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42774321@N08/4001331561/

The other Terry
ps Hey Kent
Are you studying for your Ham ticket?
You got the MUF thing going on!

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - Guest - 09-01-2010

How do you recreate the finish? There's kind of a coating between the varnish and the wood that if sanded off, and just varnished, it doesn't quite look like it did originally. Is there a trick to re-capture that old look?

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - denver - 09-01-2010

You might of sanded through the veneer. Have to watch when sanding on theses old sets. Best to just strip them with some stripper like stripeaze ect.
If its not too bad maybe some restore a finish.
No not getting ham license. Just been doing lot of reading makes for a fart smeller. Icon_lol

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - Radioroslyn - 09-01-2010

As Denver said sanding isn't a good idea. Some sets use what's called wafer veneer. It's very thin about 128 of an inch thick. You can sand though it in no time. Don't ask how I know. Also there is the photo finish. A large decal made to look like wood with inlays. Sand it or strip it and you done! If you take a close look at some sets that are being offered on ebay you'll notice that the from panel looks very plain and pale. That's what you 'll get after stripping a photo finish.
Here's a few I found

http://cgi.ebay.com/120615934586

http://cgi.ebay.com/360295501149

http://cgi.ebay.com/190436966669

http://cgi.ebay.com/300461052941

You can check in the Gallery to see what these are suppose to look like. On non photo finish stripping, light sanding, grain filling, using toned lacquer,and a high gloss lacquer are the general steps. On photo finishes it will require a bit of art work to recreate the missing areas of photo and a coat of lacquer. For more info go over to the Cabinet Restoration Section
Good Luck
Terry

Re: My "New" Philco 112! - Guest - 09-01-2010

7estatdef Wrote:As Denver said sanding isn't a good idea. Some sets use what's called wafer veneer. It's very thin about 128 of an inch thick. You can sand though it in no time. Don't ask how I know. Also there is the photo finish. A large decal made to look like wood with inlays. Sand it or strip it and you done! If you take a close look at some sets that are being offered on ebay you'll notice that the from panel looks very plain and pale. That's what you 'll get after stripping a photo finish...

Terry

My '41 Phico had lots of water damage and deep gouges. Sanding was the only option.

I found a piece of contact paper that matched it pretty well.

Still there is a finish that is too "clear like" when I was done. I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to get that back. The cabinets seemed to have a kind of dull-looking grain. Sanding and varnish makes it look too "restored" looking. They used some kind of stain or something on the wood before the final coat that sort of dulled the wood kind of...