[phly guy]

Ok, here's the 48-460 I recently picked up. I'm new to this so my question is: Do I strip the paint or not?

What if anything will this do to the value? Is it like polishing an antique bronze lamp (ruins the value) or not?

I don't like it in the state it's in. My first thought was strip off the paint and enjoy it in it's naked state. My second thought was strip off the paint and repaint. My third thought was would it be better to 'touch-up" the paint.

Where the finish isn't chipped it's often flaking off. There is a crack on the side but it's a tight one and I imagine it can be glued easily.

What's a bakelite safe paint removal technique? What chemical strippers are recommended?

Your opinions are welcome.

John

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[batterymaker]

Paint stripper will easily work without damaging the bakelite. To stop that crack, I'd drill a small hole where the crack ends--that'll stop it in its tracks. Then you can fill and sand it with body filler.

Bill

[phly guy]

So basicly any commercial paint stripper should work then? I'm not trying to be dense about it. I just don't want to watch it turn into a puddle of goo before my eyes.

Do you recommend/have experience with any particular stripper? I'm just looking to narrow down the field a bit.

Thanks

[Don Lind]

It will respond to auto body repair methods. I have gotten good results by wet sanding using 220-360, then finishing up with 400-600. With luck, you can reuse the Philco logo on the front.

Fibreglass, epoxy and body filler will fill cracks and chips after repairing as recommended above.

[phly guy]

One more question, the cabinet has the original decal on the bottom. I'd love to be able to save it. Is there a way to remove the decals without destroying them? What type of adhesive is used to attach them?

I gather that replacement "Philco" decals for the front are not hard to come by?

[Texasrocker]

The very best way to repair "cracks" in bakelight cabs, is to use a small amt of "JB Weld" inside the cabinet after the interior is cleaned throughly ( apply sparingly over the crack on interior of cabinet). Using paper masking-tape to hold cabinet structure from the outside orig surface in-place will allow for proper amt of JB Weld on the inside of cabinet to be held together. JB Weld also works well as a "filler", for any missing bakelight chips, and can be carefully sanded down to accept the new paint job. For a very good "spray-can" finish, Rustoleum brand Appliance- Paint (types),.. spray can enamels work very well on bakelight! Allow 24 hrs to dry! The "shine" of Rustoleum appliance-type colors matches original bakelight finishes indeed!! Avail in several different colors also!! PS,.. Ive seen a "hippo" try to strip before, but Ive never tried to strip a hippo in "bakelight" before!! Im sure it can be done!!

[batterymaker]

Pretty much any good stripper will take off the paint. And you can work around the decal if you're careful.

[englishradioman]

Hey Bill,

I've never tried that, drill a hole at the end of the crack before filling, that sounds a great tip that would prevent the fault expanding later with knocks or drops etc.

Could you embellish on bore? Difficult, I realise in words, but fine fault/bad fault- width of bore. Would be helpful for future bakelite jobs, few that I do.

Thanks, Reggie.

[Guest]

If you lose the Philco decal during the stripping process, reproductions are available from several sources. They are water slide decals. Make sure you try to save the manufactures lable on the bottom if you can. If you have a scanner, you can scan it first just in case and make a new one to apply later if need be. Texasrockers suggestion of using appliance paint is a good one and is what i use for a hard shiny paint job like the original. The three popular colors are black, white and almond for antique white. No primer is needed for appliance paint and since it dries slowly you shouldnt have any dull spots like you would have with regular spray paint so less clean-up and polishing afterwards. The speaker slats will be the hardest to strip due to the small confines of the paint.
-Tony

[gary rabbitt]

Hi,
The set is definitely in need to cabinet repair and a repaint. Touch up would be futile at best Don't worry about the stripper, I have never heard of any brand 'melting' a cabinet.

Good suggestions on using body shop type materials. I use fiberglass resin to make the missing pieces, then if needed, a very thin layer of Bondo or spot putty to fill the pinholes.

Make sure when you repair the crack, you apply somethng to the backside to give the crack support. I will use either the fiberglass resin, as it flows out pretty smooth, or some 24 hr type epoxy. You can roughen up the insde where the epoxy is going to be, as it will give a good surface to grip onto. A slick surface might result in the epoxy not sticking well.

Don't worry about the decal on the front. Trying to go around it, then refinish, you will see it, and will not look good. A smooth paint job, then a new repro decal will look better.

As for the underside label. First, I would have a good sharp high res photo of it. You probably can't get the bottom in the scanner to lay flat against the glass, and the image would not be in focus. Use a high res setting so you can get a lot of detail. Maybe use a Macro setting for close ups. You can always resize during printing to keep the details intact.

After you have saved the image in a few shots. (you can make a repro label and age it accordingly) you can clean up the image in a graphics program, fill in small torn places, etc.

For the removal if you want to go that route.
I have heard that if you take cloths soaked in acetone and layed them on the label for a few hours, the label will peel off. It will take time to soak in, it shouldn't harm the label. Just keep the cloths from drying out.

Some guys have masked off the label using Post-It notes, but you need to not let the paint soak thru the paper during spraying.
Some have masked off using tape , but leaving the masking tape to not touch the label, only touch about 1 /16 " outside of the label. If the color match is not close, you willsee the thin area where the masking tape was.

Just some ideas to throw out there, good luck with your Hippo.
Gary.

[phly guy]

Thanks Gary and all the others that replied. Great info from all of you.

Of course as soon as I acquired the radio I got extremely busy with other things. So this project will have to wait for a while.

On the flip side, I've acquired a new set of knobs for it. At least those look pretty!

Since the radio was made in both brown and white, I have to decide what color I want mine to be...........Still undecided here. It looks like I'm going to have to strip it either way, so at the moment I'm thinking brown, that way at least I can skip the repainting process........I keep changing my mind on this every week or so.

Thanks again,

John