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Grill cloth for Philco 18 console. - Printable Version

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Grill cloth for Philco 18 console. - morzh - 10-28-2012

Hey guys,

So first thing I want to ask about my new Philco 18 is the cloth.
I know Radiodaze has some selection but if someone know exactly which one it is I could use some advice.

Here are some closeups of what is left in there.

   
   

here's the whole thing.

   

RE: Grill cloth for Philco 18 console. - Ron Ramirez - 10-28-2012

Pattern #40 is close to what was used originally. Not exact, but close enough for gubmint work.

The exact pattern used in your set was never faithfully reproduced. #40 was John Okolowicz' attempt to reproduce the original, but it did not turn out looking exactly like the original.

Now...good luck finding any.

RE: Grill cloth for Philco 18 console. - morzh - 10-28-2012

Thanks Ron,

I am not after exact authentic reproduction, after all, exact or not, it is no longer original.
I want it to look "close enough".
#40 it is then.

RE: Grill cloth for Philco 18 console. - morzh - 01-22-2013

OK, I've just realized that the Radiodaze no longer sells any grillcloth.

I need to buy some for my 18, and I cannot even compare what I see to what "#40" looked like.
Not even sure whom to buy from; people like "grillecloth.com" seem to sell modern types.

Anyone?

RE: Grill cloth for Philco 18 console. - Eliot Ness - 01-22-2013

Unfortunately we've entered a dark period for grille cloth. Kenny Richmond is slowly starting to have some made but it is a slow/expensive process and so far he only has two patterns and they are both Zenith.

The best you can hope to do is find something close until something better turns up. There is some cloth being sold on eBay, and while it isn't reproduction, some of it is better than nothing.
Here are a couple of vendors:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/brets-old-radios/m.html

http://www.ebay.com/sch/q-masters/m.html?item=390516963277&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5aec9ff7cd&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

There is a site in Italy that sells grille cloth, and some of it appears to be stock he still has leftover from grillecloth.com. It isn't cheap, but I know a collector in Columbus who bought a piece from him and was pleased with it. The fellow apparently speaks English and will answer e-mails about his prices:

http://digilander.libero.it/oldradios/engver/index.html

The only other thing you could do is run some classified ads looking for some. There are collectors who have some packed away from panic buying when the announcement came out that it was being discontinued.

If you need to know what pattern #40 looked like here is a site that still has the pattern pictured, although it is a little small:

http://www.grillecloth.com/grillcloth/generic.php

RE: Grill cloth for Philco 18 console. - DKinYORKpa - 01-23-2013

Can you describe the mounting method for the grill cloth? I have no indication on mine; the previous sad cloth was kind of wedged in with strips of wood.

RE: Grill cloth for Philco 18 console. - morzh - 01-24-2013

I could but I haven't gotten to taking the speaker out yet, so I haven't seen how the cloth is attached.
For that matter I don't give much hoot for the original method of attaching it; as long as it is attached to a separate board, like it was in my 20 console, I staple it.

What I did was putting a continuous bead of Elmer's glue around the perimeter of the board at the face side and also around the screw holes, also at the face side, then stretching the cloth a bit on a hard (non-slippery, like an ironing board) surface, putting the board on top of it, and then folding and stapling it, making sure the glue grabs it around the perimeter and at the holes. This ensures that the cloth will stay put over time and the screws, that will go through it, will not initiate the ripping process.

I made sure that the glue bead was outside of the viewable area of the cloth, as it will discolor it.