[MrFixr55]

Hi Howard,

You could try to degrease the heck out of the shaft and single ball bearing, rough up a small section and use J-B Weld epoxy. Alternatively, just solder the 2 shafts together or glue the 2 knobs wth contact cement or auto emblem glue. This would allow you to disassemble the unit if a suitable replacement is found. You will have no fine adjustment, but you could tune the radio easily enough without it.

I can't remember, but you said that this set had 2 6a8s? This is rare, as a 6A8 is a "pentagrid convertor". I can't remember if I am repeating myself or if I posted this in a different thread. This set was likely heavily used in the WWII years where consumer electronics and consumer electronic parts were not available due to all factory production shifted to the war effort. Therefore, many substitutions and "hacks" were made. RCA, GE and Philco all published tube substitution guides to keep these sets running during the war.

I may have stated in this or another post, but I am always a fan of getting the audio section to work and putting in a radio - aux switch. Not only a "divide and conquer" troubleshooting technique but allows the injection of MP3 or computer audio of period (WWII era) broadcasts directly without the distortion of modulation / demodulation.

BTW Howard, I forgot to mention this in welcoming you to the Phorum. I have no formal education in electronics; my BS Degree is in Medical Technology. However, I taught myself electricity and electronics. I broke my first TV at the age of 3 and fixed my first TV at the age of 10. As a kid, I loved taking things apart and fixing them instead of sports and other Kid activities. One of my most treasured Christmas gifts from Dad was the US Navy "Basic Electricity and "Basic Electronics" courses written by Van Valkenberg, Nooger and Neville, printed by John Rider Publishing. IMHO, Must reading, especially to help understand the thought process behind these radios from about 1935 to the end of the vacuum tube era.

Below is a link to Volume 2 of this text, covering AF amplifiers, via the "World Radio History" website:
https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archiv...nics-2.pdf

Hope this helps.