[Paul Philco322]

Looking super, excellent work. Paul

[jrblasde]

Thank you!

[Joe Rossi]

Gosh, I wish I had your skills.  My 37-630, although not in need of any veneer, just looks old and tired. You’ve done an excellent restoration! 

Joe

[462ron]

Joseph that cabinet looks amazing. I’m no refinishing expert, actually loathe doing that work. When I was refinishing my 37-116, Ron Ramirez said most people prefer a semi- gloss finish but he thought it would look better with a gloss finish. I finished up with many coats of gloss lacquer but after rubbing it out after two weeks of curing time, it ended up more like a semi-gloss which I am fine with. One question, do you use spray equipment or rattle cans?

Ron

[jrblasde]

Thank you both, Joe and Ron! I appreciate it! I have worried at various stages that the results won’t quite be up to snuff, but I think it’s all coming together nicely. Diligence has paid off, and I’ve gotten a lot of “on the job experience” with this one! Many thanks to the folks who have chimed in to help.

Ron, I have always used spray lacquer or polyurethane, but this shellac came as a quart of liquid that has to be brushed or rubbed on. I am using a sleeve from an old flannel shirt, sort of crunched up like one of those French polish applicators. I’ve always erred on the side of spray-on clear coats for fear that I’d leave stroke marks, but I’m noticing that’s not the case with this shellac! Also thank you for confirming the semi-gloss. I suppose we’ll see, but I’m thinking the results will be a tad more glossy than a usual semi-gloss finish since I’m applying this shellac undercoat. I may also have to do some buffing to adjust the final sheen. We’ll see!

[jrblasde]

I’ve still been working on the cabinet this week. I’m at the point now where I’ve gotten the bezel around the dial finished. I made it darker than the surrounding veneer so that it’d be more pronounced. It’s got a nice wood grain!

   

About that glass dial, it is a reproduction from Radio Daze. The original dial was “fine” (I say fine because it was not cracked, but the lettering was flaky and dull), but I made a fatal mistake. Back in April, I removed it from the cabinet so I could strip the finish from the surrounding bezel, and I made the careless mistake of laying it on the ground. Not more than five minutes later I knelt down and shattered it with my knee.

   

Today I worked on installing the new dial into the metal bracket. Once I got the broken glass out, I could see that the flocking was in poor shape.

   

I used a wire brush to clean the old flocking off of the metal, then I redid the flocking. Finally, I installed the new dial with mounting rubber.

   

   

I put the most recent coat of shellac on the cabinet this last Thursday. I’m going to let it sit for a full week to harden, and then I’m going to apply the water slide decals.

Another aside, I need to replace the speaker fabric. I’m having a difficult time finding a “ribbed” pattern like this. I checked Michael Katz’s website, Big River Radio, and I’m still perusing eBay. I found a vendor on eBay who has quite a few patterns, but I’m also looking for other recommendations.

   

[jrblasde]

I've still been searching for the right fabric, but I came across this one on eBay. I think it's similar to the original. Close, but of course not exact. What do you all think? It's been a tough one to match!

   

   

[bridkarl]

Great work!! I haven't yet tried to do that although I've learned to fix chips in veneer. I retired two weeks ago officially so I'll have more time for all this.


I'll echo the comments about flat white paint on trim. Currently trying to sell house. I've scrubbed every bit of trim and still get comments that it looks "dirty" from prospective buyers. Real estate markets seem flat right now and prospective buyers seem few and far between. Sigh...

[jrblasde]

This last Thursday made a week since I had applied shellac, so I had finally waited long enough to apply the decals. However, I had the monthly meeting for the Heartland Antique Radio Association after work on Thursday. Friday evening we were entertaining family, and I simply didn't get around to it yesterday. Today I set out to get the labels applied, and I did it. Here we are:

   

Additionally, I've been speaking with someone on eBay about speaker fabric. They ended up helping me find a better match to the original:

   

I ordered it yesterday, and it will probably ship out tomorrow. It's still not an exact match, but I think it won't be that big a deal since it is behind the wood slats on the pull-out turntable door. I think this lighter color will be better.

[KCMike]

Very nice looking Joseph.
Finding correct grill cloth can be a challenge at times.

[Joe Rossi]

Bridkarl, congratulations on your retirement! The worst day of retirement is better than the best day of work… Joe

[jrblasde]

The speaker fabric arrived in the mail today. It looks as it was pictured. Before installing it, I first need to clean up the board it is applied to. I removed the old fabric, used some steel wool to scour off any remaining glue and fibers, and gave it a cleaning with mineral spirits (it was pretty yucky and had some signs of spills or other moisture damage). It looks to have been painted black on the side to which the speaker fabric is glued, so I'll give it a fresh coat. Aside from that, I've also got the cabinet on my front porch this evening, giving it a final overcoat now that the decals have had a week to dry in place.

[jrblasde]

I’ve made some more progress on the cabinet restoration, too. For one thing, I finally repainted the interior of the cabinet. After stripping the flaky portions and cleaning it out, I primed and painted it with a dark brown.

   

   

I have also gotten the speaker fabric installed. The board onto which the fabric is glued was in bad shape. It obviously had moisture damage and had become flimsy. I was able to clean it with some mineral spirits, and I applied a thin backing to help reinforce it. I stripped the old fabric, sanded that face smooth, and repainted it dark. I then reapplied the new speaker fabric installed. Here it is, all mocked up. It’s looking great!

   

   

I need to clean up and reinstall a few more components for mounting the turntable, and then I can fully reassemble the pull-out door into the console.

[radiorich]

Hello joseph,
That cabinet looks great. What if I shrink my General Electric model L-916, mail it to you, and you refinish it?

That radio looks like it was just delivered from Philco dealer !!

Sincerely Richard

[MrFixr55]

That cabinet really "pops", Joe. Congrats!!

I'm sure that's why you want the chassis to look as nice!