[Phil3815]

Hi
 Is anyone making repro plastic speaker-dial escutcheons for the PT 87, 41,42 840 series portables and 41-221 radios ?

[Ron Ramirez]

Nope.

Kirk (OldRestorer) had some made a few years ago, but he had sold all of them and has no more. No one else has ever reproduced them.

[MrFixr55]

I saw some on ebay last year from vendor "Hapysellers" or "Happyselers".  I can't remember the exact spelling but either was a misspelling of "Happysellers"  He misspells it.  They were not cheap but were nice.  Unfortunately, I cannot find him on ebay presently, but he apparently is an antique shop in Kings Park NY or Smithtown NY with a relatively large inventory of antique electronics and  he occasionally posts on ebay.

An artist that I have serviced radios for had made a mold of the escutcheon of my 48-206 which apparently was made of something other than the Tenite material Philco used for many Prewar radios such as the 42PT94, but he is not interested in reproducing them in any quantity.  This is a shame, as the escutcheon is used on many popular prewar Philco radios  I don't know what he used as the material.  He is elderly and due to the COVID epidemic, I have not seen him lately.

There is a person who reproduces the escutcheons for the 41-255 and similar units.  I wonder why he / she doesn't make them.

Every Prewar Philco Transitone that uses this escutcheon needs one.  They are always in bad shape.

[Phil3815]

I have a small collection of Philco portables. The plastic on the 41 models seems to hold up a little better than the 42. The 41 color is a little darker. Maybe the color pigment might be the reason. Most of my radios are in good shape because I've had them for a long time and they're always under climate control. It's what you find today that's pretty bad. I recently bought a 41-85. The 3 knobs are perfect but the escutcheon looks like Salcatore Dali created it. If I can find a good plastic panel in any color I'll buy it.

[Radioroslyn]

Kirk tried to mold them but didn't get a satisfactory result. The up shot of the whole process was that he ended up having them printed with a 3D printer but the cost was excessive abt $60 ea. That's why they are no longer produce. The 3D printed ones had there issues too. Monochromatic and lots of very fine scratches. If your not in a hurry you can find a parts set with a good escutcheon.

GL

[OldRestorer]

My ears are Ringing!