10-20-2011, 10:34 PM
The cabinet usually used one or more species of walnut veneer in one or more different cuts. The solid parts like the legs and moldings were often made out of a more expensive wood like tulip poplar, maple, beech, alder, sometimes ash, that were covered with tinted laquers, sometimes with varying shades just for effect. Sometimes they would use paint like around a speaker grill cutout or a cabinet base on a table set. If the finish is badly faded and deteriorated to the piint where you can't figure out the original colour palet the best thing to do is to study pictures of the same set or a set in a similar cabinet in a better condition.
If the legs on your set are in bad shape with chunks missing reproductions can be made, or a better cabinet could be found, I'm not sure whether Steve Davis does wood turning or no but he can reproduce a lot of Philco cabinet parts if needed. There is a swap meet in Pensylvania called Kuntztown where they burn empty cabinets, a leg doner or an empty cabinet may come up there or at a more local swap meet. The 118 was a popular set in a highboy cabinet and there were other models that shared that same cabinet so it would not be impossible to find one, then again it may make more sense to find a better example and use your current set for parts it it's really rought.
Regards
Arran
If the legs on your set are in bad shape with chunks missing reproductions can be made, or a better cabinet could be found, I'm not sure whether Steve Davis does wood turning or no but he can reproduce a lot of Philco cabinet parts if needed. There is a swap meet in Pensylvania called Kuntztown where they burn empty cabinets, a leg doner or an empty cabinet may come up there or at a more local swap meet. The 118 was a popular set in a highboy cabinet and there were other models that shared that same cabinet so it would not be impossible to find one, then again it may make more sense to find a better example and use your current set for parts it it's really rought.
Regards
Arran