[Joe Rossi]

This looks great!

[jrblasde]

I hadn’t heard of Big River Hardware, thanks! You’re right, they have a large selection. I’m seeing a couple that are pretty dang close to the original grille cloth!

[radiorich]

Hello Joseph,
Me either !!
Sincerely Richard

[RodB]

Yes, I just bought grille cloth about 6 or 7 (6-7) weeks ago and bought extra because the shipping was the same and I liked the pattern and color. I'll be using it on other projects.

[Paul Philco322]

They sell restored radios as well, at eye popping prices, then I can imagine what the shipping would be. Paul

[jrblasde]

Holy smokes those are expensive! Wow!

Oh, well. If I win the lottery I will have somewhere to throw it all away    In the meantime, at least their grill cloth is priced reasonably.

[jrblasde]

Tonight I sprayed the first coat of lacquer onto the cabinet. I applied the “PHILCO” decal a couple of days ago, so that’s had time to set. I also cleaned up and stripped the control panel. As was seen on one of my earlier photos, there’s some damage to the veneer.

   

   

This little area was extremely brittle and did not hold up well to sanding. I decided the best thing to do would be to splice in a new piece of veneer. The coloring and the grain of this veneer looks very similar to the maple I bought when I repaired the 46-480.

   

I decided to overlay a small section of new veneer and cut through the new and old in one motion so that the new splice fits precisely into place.

   

I slightly oversized the areas that overhang into the dial and push button areas so that I can file them down to size once it is fully set into place. Currently I’ve got it glued and clamped.

[jrblasde]

I’m quite pleased with the cabinet! It looks fantastic with a clear gloss coat on it.

   

   

I am also satisfied with the veneer patch on the control panel. I had a very small gap on part of the splice on the right side, but I mixed up some fine sawdust and glue and was able to fill it in and sand it down smooth. I’ve read that you want to use irregular shapes to join splices of veneer, and so that’s what I did. Being that this will be a very dark piece of wood, I’m not overly concerned that any differences in grain will be noticeable. My primary concern is that it is now repaired and entirely smooth to the touch.

   

[jrblasde]

I gave it my absolute best at color matching the control panel. This was a tough color to match, because it had notes of purple and brown. But here we are. I also tried to match the marbling of light and dark. I know that the end result is a bit darker than the control panel shown here on the junker radio, but it’s pretty close!

   

I loosely installed it into the cabinet, and it’s looking sharp! I’ve got the decals on order for the four knobs. I’ll get those applied to the panel, and then I will reinstall the glass dial and mount it into the cabinet.

   

   

[MrFixr55]

Joseph, REALLY NICE job on that cabinet!

[jrblasde]

Thank you, sir! Some folks have an easier time at the cabinet work than they do with the electrical, but for me the most difficult part is color matching. That takes true talent, and I am amazed by people who can do it so easily. I enjoy woodworking, but the finishing work is a test of patience and past lessons learned. But each project gets a bit better than the last one!

[jrblasde]

I’ve reached a dilemma. I got the new decals from Radio Daze for the knobs, and I got them installed. I applied a coat of the same clear gloss coating that I sprayed on the cabinet, but it was too shiny. The control panel was originally a bit more matte than the cabinet, I guess you’d say. Anyway, I followed up with a coat of semi-gloss to see how that would look, and I guess that was a poor choice. The two dissimilar lacquers reacted with each other and bubbled up.

I could salvage the piece of wood, but I would need to refinish it and order new decals. In the midst of my frustration, I had an idea. I took the control panel from the scrap radio and cleaned it up. It was nasty, but there wasn’t any damage to it! I did have to spray a bit of toner on spots to conceal a few faded areas, but it cleaned up well. I then put on a fresh coat of semi-gloss lacquer. 

It looks good, but here’s my conflict. These are the original decals on this panel; they look fine, but are clearly more faded than the new “PHILCO” decal on the cabinet. What do you all think—is it okay as is, or should I just go ahead and get another set of decals for the knobs? It’s not that big of an expense, but I’m not sure if it would be overkill if I have this panel shown here.

   

   

[morzh]

It almost looks like this Philco uses pieces of wood and not veneered plywood: is this correct?

Looks nice.

[jrblasde]

This is a solid piece of wood (i.e., not plywood), but it does have a veneer on top.

[jrblasde]

Progress has been slower lately, but I did just get the new speaker fabric installed this evening. I had a world of a time finding a fabric similar in weave and in color to the original, but I feel that this is close. In fact, I really do like it!

   

Aside from that, I’ve gotten the majority of the replacement resistors and caps ordered from WJOE. I’m about to finalize an order on Mouser for the components I couldn’t get from WJOE, and then I’ll be ready to plunge into the full electric restoration. I’ve gotten the schematic produced and have mapped out the wiring, so I’m ready! But I believe this speaker fabric concludes the cabinet restoration.