[FStephenMasek]

It really found me, as a guy heard or saw me in a junk or thrift shop looking at two other radios, so ran out and brought his 116B to sell. I offered him the same $45 I paid for each of the other two radios, and he was quite happy. Does anyone have any tips regarding this model?

Philco 116B
[Image: http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj77/...ure048.jpg]

Philco 116B back
[Image: http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj77/...ure049.jpg]

[Ron Ramirez]

Hi Stephen

For $45 you scored an amazing bargain. The 116B, especially the early version you have with its 10-1/2 inch speaker, is one of the best Philcos ever made.

I have one identical to yours. I thought I did very well, paying $125 for mine. I've refinished the cabinet but have not redone the electronics as of yet.

The usual advice applies - replace all of the paper and electrolytic capacitors, check the resistors and replace any that are not within 20% tolerance. Give it a careful alignment...then sit back and enjoy it as it brings in stations from all over.

[FStephenMasek]

I'm glad to hear there are no special problem areas with this model.

I have no idea what happened to the finish. There is veneer damage on the front, and damage to a bit on one black stripe. I need to find some nice old thickness veneer, and the new paper-backed stuff is too thin.

[Music in a bottle]

JEALOUS! Is that shortwave capable?

[Music in a bottle]

Hey Buddy! You might want to snap this up! http://cgi.ebay.com/200418035700

[Ron Ramirez]

Stephen, regarding the finish, the vast majority of the early 1936 Philcos I have seen that use the dark toners on the top and sides, such as yours, always seem to have the finish missing. It makes me wonder if Philco used a cheaper grade of toning lacquer on these models? I have owned three early 116B models and on every one, the dark toner was nearly gone. Ditto Models 650B, 643B, 640B, 630B, 620B.

Music, yes, the 116 is not only shortwave capable, it is a superb performer on SW as well as AM. It has 11 tubes including an RF amp and two stages of IF amplification. It also has a long wave band.

[Music in a bottle]

HMMMM...Me likes the looks of the 116B. Stephen, you better snag that service manual before I make up my mind to get a 116B instead of a 37-610!!!

[FStephenMasek]

Thanks for the tip on the manual. I waivered on buying it, as the schematic on Nostalgia Air has the alignment information and is OK, but decided it might have information on the shadow meter and so forth, so bought it.

Ron, your experience with the darkly-finished portions of Philco radios of that era is interesting. The wood on the 116B and my 620B does not have nice grain, as it is more like the grain on plywood, so the finish has to be such a dark walnut that it is almost black. Obtaining that with spray cans would require numerous coats, as I tried it on the 620B. Instead, I'll use dark walnut stain, then lacquer.

The Philco 116B is one gigantic "midget" radio - 23.5" high by 15.75" wide!

[Ron Ramirez]

The early version 116B is the largest tombstone Philco ever made.

You might be interested in reading this thread - it shows before and after pictures of my 116B:
http://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=1053

[FStephenMasek]

I glued the cabinet back together today. While gluing it, I thought the finish on the pillars looked like paint.

After that, I tried to wipe the front and vertical front pillars with lacquer thinner. After using the lacquer thinner, which did not remove it, I am almost certain it is really black paint. That would explain why the finish falls off on all of the similar models.

We have had a difficult time with our 620B, as it had been stripped long before we bought it, and was very dry. The tonned lacquer works well on the vertical pillars, which are solid wood, but not on the plywod sides and top. We wiped it with dark walnut gell stain last wekend, after we had sprayed many coats of extra dark toned lacquer a few months ago. We first sanded it last weekend to rremove some of the roughness still left in the wood. The gell stain would not then cover. Today, I removed the finish on the top and sides with lacquer thinner. I then applied the dark walnut gell stain three times, but it is far from dark enough. The pillars look fine, and the front panel wooks fine, so I think I'll spray the top and sides with black paint, then cover it all with clear lacquer.

Parts of the 116B cabinet are also very dry, and some areas of the black stripes are missing or deteriorated. Unless I find a better idea, I'll fix the stripes with wood filler and then paint or stain the stripes.

Ron, your photo in the thread on your 116B was very helpful, as the finish on our radio is too far gone to have noticed the darker center and bottom of the front.

I lightly cleaned the chassis today, and it does not appear to have ever been serviced, although the filter capacitors are Mallory, not Philco, and not one of the 11 tubes was a Philco tube.

[Doug Houston]

Philco isn't the only make of radio where the finish flakes off of parts of the cabinet. They all have the same problem.

Firstly, the cabinets were never stained when they were finished. They were coated with tinted lacquer, probably after a sealer coat had been applied. That's the way I refinish the cabinets. In the case of Philco's tombstones like this 116B, or as Ron says, about any of the sets of that style had finish flake off of the whitewood part of the cabinet. Where decorative woods are used, such as walnut or mahogany, the finish stays on very well, but not on the whitewood (generally basswood or gumwood). It may be residual oils in the woods that promote breakdown of adhesion........I don't know. Since I have several of the sets like this one,I've found that, if you can save the walnut veneered panel of the set, and can preserve the original Philco decal, it's a good deal. Reason for this is, that the original decal used on these sets has never been reproduced, as nearly as I've been able to find. The new ones, supplied by a couple of sources, have been excellent, but if I can save the original decal, I'll do it. The walnut veneered panels usually survive pretty well.

In the case of the 116B I hve that's like this one, I bought the cabinet totally naked. It had been stripped clean as new, with no chassis or any parts....just the bare cabinet. Within a year, I had found a somewhat stripped chassis, a speaker, and a few internal parts. I had an exact power transformer on hand. I had the knobs. Bought a new dial scale from Clint Blais. Put all the stuff together, with new capacitors, and there I had it: a new Philco 116B.

Right in that same time frame, I found and restored the other 116B, that I have. It had to be stripped clean, and re-finished.Both appear in Ron's book. Both are jewels to have. They just never made 'em any better!

[FStephenMasek]

How do you get the finish dark enough with just lacquer? I do not have asprayer, so only have the Mohawk spray cans. Their extra dark walnut is nice, but it just is not dark enough to cover without several coats. I'm worried that to many coats will exceed Mohawk's maximum thickness, and crack.

[Arran]

Finding proper veneer isn't a serious issue, from what I can figure out, using a straight edge and an automotive type feeler gauge, most of my radios seem to have used veneer 1/52 of an inch and thinner. The paper backed veneer is so ridiculously thin that I have never contemplated using it for anything other then replacing a faux finish like "Philcote", and unlike the solid veneer you also have a much reduced selection of cuts and species to choose from.
If you want to cut back on the quantity of tone spray that you have to use you could always dye the wood underneath it first, I have had a habit of using brown fabric dye like Rit or Tintex to darken it up first, aniline wood dye is another way. Under a colour like extra dark walnut tone spray it will obliterate any lighter shade of brown anyhow.
Best Regards
Arran