08-25-2013, 07:59 PM
I found a local retailer that carries Howard's. I'll grab some tomorrow and see what happens with the little surface defects. There is really only one or two very minor scratches in the surface, the rest just seems to be places where splashes of one sort or another chewed into the finish. I'm optimistic that those little defects will disappear. I feel like a kid on the night before Christmas...
I spent a little bit of time today working on the speaker and grill cloth. Both were quite dusty and it seems that some water got in somewhere a long time ago. The good news is that both cleaned up quite nicely. I used a soft toothbrush (my son's instead of my wife's
, Jerry) and my air compressor. I was able to remove all of the caked on dust and both now look nice.
Here is a picture of the speaker after cleaning and the grille cloth before cleaning and trimming the stray strings of the burlap. The speaker cone itself seems quite thick by today's standards. The voice coil travels in and out without any scraping. What is the point of the two voice coils? Each measures a different impedance on my meter: the top (more wide spread) set of pins seems to measure between 4 and 6 ohms depending on frequency of measure and the bottom (more narrowly spread pins) seem to measure between 16 and 56 ohms (depending on frequency).
[Image: http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/esantan...G_9848.JPG]
[Image: http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/esantan...G_9843.JPG]
I also spent some time cleaning the escutcheon and knobs with goop. Both cleaned up pretty nicely. There are a few spots where the paint has given way to few small dots of rust or corrosion. You can also see two buttons that seemed to store the most favored radio stations since the paint is worn away around them.
[Image: http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/esantan...G_9850.JPG]
The knobs also cleaned up nicely, but comparing the front of the knob to the back of the knob, it seems obvious that the knobs had some sort of shiny coating on them. I am not able to tell what material they are made from. How do you differentiate bakelite from plastic? They seem quite solid and heavy. No set screws for the knobs, just a gentle pull was all it took to remove them.
What is the best way to restore the shine to the knobs? The candidates to me seem to be clear coat paint or lacquer.
Everything here seems to be original, with the exception of a new power cord. The receiver is missing the tuning string and the tuning indicator. I found a source for the tuning string. Does anyone have a lead on where to find a tuning indicator?
I spent a little bit of time today working on the speaker and grill cloth. Both were quite dusty and it seems that some water got in somewhere a long time ago. The good news is that both cleaned up quite nicely. I used a soft toothbrush (my son's instead of my wife's
, Jerry) and my air compressor. I was able to remove all of the caked on dust and both now look nice. Here is a picture of the speaker after cleaning and the grille cloth before cleaning and trimming the stray strings of the burlap. The speaker cone itself seems quite thick by today's standards. The voice coil travels in and out without any scraping. What is the point of the two voice coils? Each measures a different impedance on my meter: the top (more wide spread) set of pins seems to measure between 4 and 6 ohms depending on frequency of measure and the bottom (more narrowly spread pins) seem to measure between 16 and 56 ohms (depending on frequency).
[Image: http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/esantan...G_9848.JPG]
[Image: http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/esantan...G_9843.JPG]
I also spent some time cleaning the escutcheon and knobs with goop. Both cleaned up pretty nicely. There are a few spots where the paint has given way to few small dots of rust or corrosion. You can also see two buttons that seemed to store the most favored radio stations since the paint is worn away around them.
[Image: http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/esantan...G_9850.JPG]
The knobs also cleaned up nicely, but comparing the front of the knob to the back of the knob, it seems obvious that the knobs had some sort of shiny coating on them. I am not able to tell what material they are made from. How do you differentiate bakelite from plastic? They seem quite solid and heavy. No set screws for the knobs, just a gentle pull was all it took to remove them.
What is the best way to restore the shine to the knobs? The candidates to me seem to be clear coat paint or lacquer.
Everything here seems to be original, with the exception of a new power cord. The receiver is missing the tuning string and the tuning indicator. I found a source for the tuning string. Does anyone have a lead on where to find a tuning indicator?
