[Jamesm]

Hello,
Looking for some ideas about my philco 20. The grille on my radio is falling apart and I have some pieces but not all of them. What do I do? How do I fix this? Is there anyone that makes reproduction grilles for this radio? Any pointers would be great!
Thanks!
-James

[tab10672]

Depends on how much time and effort you want to put into it. Its not so bad it cant be repaired, veneer is easy to seam and the original finish was dark around the grill area so that would help hide any imperfections. If you do decide to repair I suggest buying a dremel tool to help in the tight spots.

[Arran]

I'm not sure about the model 20s but forum member Steve Davis reproduces some Philco cabinet parts. That grille has a lot of missing pieces, it would be almost as much work to repair as it would be to make another. Those grilles are notorious for breakage at the best of times, but that one looks like it was subjected to some moisture damage as well.
Regards
Arran

[Jamesm]

I don't mind putting the work I to it but it would have saved me a lot of time if someone made reproductions. Tab10672 you say that it was darker around the grille area originally? It looks to have a walnut finish. Because its so delicate, I guess I will have to take off the veneer that is missing wood under it then build up the wood underneath then re apply the veneer and replace missing pieces. Also I will have to glue it all in a press because everything intact is warped. Must have gotten wet at some point. I was surprised to find it working before its been restored electrically. That's going to happen before I work on the cabinet.

[OldRestorer]

Restore, you cant make it worse and keeping it original is better.

If it does not work, go with option B

my latest was not that bad but lots and lots of warping. 7 gluing's later and it is all good for toner.

[tab10672]

The finish was toned dark around the grill, arch edges, and base trim. It was faded into a lighter finish around the knobs. http://www.ppinyot.com/philco20/IM000001.JPG this one looks to have the original finish so you can see how the repairs could be hidden under. Also try not to remove any loose veneer, place the solid wood between the thin (inner/outer) pieces so they, for one help hold it in and two, you wont have any cross grain breaks to fix.

[Jamesm]

Tab10672, how do I re create a finish like that? Air brush? It's quite beautiful. Also would it have had a shellac coat of varnish?

[tab10672]

They have dark/transparent toning laquers. The local walmart has just started to carry it and it is easy to find online. Just stand back and spray multible coats around the grill, trim and arch edges untill its dark enough. Doesnt have to be a strait spray as seen on the original finish.

[dfields69]

I have a model 20 deluxe with the maple pieces along the top that has the same damaged grill issue. Just picked it up for 25 bucks with a light bulb shaped philco 80 tube and all light bulb shaped 24's still intact. I thought there was a guy on Ebay selling pre-cut model 20 fronts. Can't find him now? Thanks for the posts here as I was just getting ready to inquire about the same thing.

[Jamesm]

Well I finished my Philco 20A. Lots of work and cut a new grille then cut out the pieces I needed and placed them into the original. Works great and I bought another one yesterday. This time the grille is gone all together. I paid 100 because it is a Canadian model and they are supposedly the rare ones.

[Jamesm]

Here's the finished Radio

[dfields69]

Beautiful! Gives me hope....bet it sounds good. The capacitor boxes on those things are a bear the first time you gut one, but after that it's not so bad. I have done a model 296 and a neutrodyne. I found a guy here in Roanoke Va. selling original shop bulletins for these sets from an old radio repair place out of Akron Ohio. They show lots of cap, resistor values and the layout of the cap box that you don't get with the Rider shematics, thought Rider Perp. is awesome on the whole as a resource.

[Jamesm]

Yeah I rebuil the block with non-electrolytic caps. It was very easy. If I were to do it again I would have used larger values then what te schematic calls for.

[tab10672]

The Canadian ones have a larger transformer to operate on 25 cycles ac. I also have one but I have been told it is ok to use our 60 cycles by some and not ok by others, I am still not sure about it?

[Jamesm]

The Canadian ones also have a metal tag opposed to a foil sticker. The 20A runs on 25-40 cycles and the model 20 runs on 50-60 cycles. I run my 20A all the time and we use 60cycles at 120V