[Arran]

Mine are the 10cc type syringes, about 1/2'' around, easy to fill and to clean out afterward.
Regards
Arran

[Ron Ramirez]

Interesting spatula there. I've been using an old, cheap (no value) pocket knife to get glue up inside tight areas. That spatula might be better. Certainly, the syringes would be good for getting glue into tight spots.

I'm trying to go over any final details before final cleaning of some areas with acetone to be followed by sanding and then sanding sealer. I've applied a little wood putty here and there, and painted the grooves I cut with black nail polish. Of course the nail polish went all over the edges of the veneer as well as into the cut grooves. I didn't think it would be a big deal, just let it dry and then sand off the excess, right? Well, I did not stop to think about getting the stuff into the pores of the wood. Oh well, those pores will just look like they are already filled! And since the bottom sides will be toned dark anyway, it will be fine.

I'm still hoping to be able to start spraying toner on this cabinet this coming weekend.

Score so far on my 2018 cabinet restorations:

RCA 6T2 - DONE except for final rubout
Philco 66B - Needs final coats of clear lacquer
Philco 16B - Scratched due to polyurethane, better luck in 2019
Philco 41-KR - As yet untouched, maybe I'll have time to strip it one evening this week?
RCA T7-5 - Almost ready for sanding sealer
Philco 91B - Have new top/sides (wraparound) and new front panel, have not had time to work on it yet. It may not get refinished this year, but perhaps I can get the new parts installed, even over the winter.

[Ron Ramirez]

Now we're getting somewhere.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_109.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_110.jpg]

After raining much of the week, high temperatures today were in the 70s...perfect weather for spraying lacquer.

Having cleaned up and sanded down the T7-5 cabinet, I therefore sprayed two coats of sanding sealer on it. What you see above is how it now looks.

Tomorrow comes grain filler, followed by more sanding Monday and then I begin spraying toner on the cabinet sometime this coming week.

Towards that end, I've been looking at pictures of T7-5 cabinets and it appears that this cabinet was toned in at least three different colors. Today, I took some time to strip the top and sides of a very poor condition Philco 44B cathedral cabinet to use it to experiment with different colors of toning lacquer in an effort to determine just what colors to use on this T7-5 cabinet.

So here is Ron's color wheel. Or if you prefer, the Cathedral of Many Colors.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_111.jpg]

Bottom to top: Light Walnut (Tone Finish), Medium Walnut (Tone Finish), Medium Brown Walnut (Ultra Classic), Perfect Brown (Ultra Classic), Medium Dark Walnut (Ultra Classic).

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_112.jpg]

Near the top of the cabinet: Dark Red Walnut (Ultra Classic) and to the left of that, Extra Dark Walnut (Ultra Classic).

Yes, the toners are runny. I don't care. I was only interested in seeing how these colors looked on an old cabinet.

Going back to the first Philco 44B cabinet photo, you can see that Medium Brown Walnut (Ultra Classic) is darker than Medium Walnut (Tone Finish) but not as red as Perfect Brown. And Medium Dark Walnut seems lighter than Medium Brown Walnut.

In the second photo, Dark Red Walnut is not quite as dark as Extra Dark Walnut. I knew this already, having used Dark Red Walnut on the RCA 6T2 cabinet along with Extra Dark Walnut on the "white wood" portions of that cabinet.

So, as I see it, the T7-5 is going to need the following colors:

Medium Walnut overall.

Extra Dark Walnut on the top trim ("shoulders" and top front trim) as well as the wide horizontal groove on the lower left and right.

Along the bottom and on the outer edges of the "columns": Medium Brown Walnut...I think.

[Ron Ramirez]

...now the ugly gouged side looks better then the "good" side of the cabinet. Doesn't it make you wish that you stripped off the rest of the veneer on the right side and reveneered it as well?

Yes, it does, but I wasn't sure how much trouble it would be to remove that sheet of veneer so I just left it in place. It seemed to be glued down quite tightly save for the two lower corners which have since been glued back down.

I have applied grain filler to the cabinet. No toning today - I'll have to let the grain filler set until tomorrow, and it is supposed to rain (again) the next three days, so toning will have to wait.

[Ron Ramirez]

Yesterday, I sanded the cabinet down after Sunday's application of grain filler. This evening, it was time to begin the toning process.

Slowly, the poor cabinet starts to look like a radio again.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_113.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_114.jpg]

I applied two fairly light coats of Medium Walnut on the original top, front, and right side veneer. I applied four coats on the new veneer (left and lower right) to try to make the new veneer match the color of the old; and four coats on the white wood columns (left and right front).

Next comes toning of the outer edges of the columns as well as the bottom trim with a somewhat darker color (I'm thinking Medium Brown Walnut Ultra Classic), followed another day by the very dark toning (Extra Dark Walnut on the top shoulders, the top front trim, and the wide grooves on left and right).

[KCMike]

Nice work Ron. You're getting there.

[EdHolland]

Great progress, I'd say

[NostalgiaRadioTime]

It's coming along very nicely, Ron. Excellent work!

Speaking of T7-5's, I'm now faced with having two RCA tombstones both with the same dial and I know I have to part with one to make room for the other. I'm leaning towards letting the T7-5 go. I know performance wise, with the extra tube, a 3 gang tuner verses 2, it's probably a bit better than the T6-1, but strictly from a personal preference standpoint, I kinda like the rounded corners of the T6-1 a bit more than the squared corner style cabinet of the T7-5. I took a pic of them side by side showing the original wheat pattern grille cloth on the T6 and the (now unobtainable) reproduction wheat pattern I got from Bruce on the T7.

   

[Ron Ramirez]

Thanks Greg. And may I add that the front panel of your T7-5 looks much better than the panel on my set. I think mine has second or third rate veneer while yours has a very nice pattern.

Well, kids, when ol' Uncle Ron last posted, I had just completed the first stage of toning - that is, spraying the whole thing Medium Walnut.

Since then I have attempted to two-tone the front columns and the bottom veneer on the sides, as well as the bottom trim.

First I tried Medium Brown Walnut. It did not seem to be having much of an effect so I then tried Dark Walnut. This only made the trim redder, which was not what I wanted. So today, I masked it all off again and sprayed a fairly light coat of Extra Dark Walnut (Ultra Classic, the toner with dye). It is still rather red to my liking, and there isn't much contrast at all between the darker sections of the front columns and the front panel since the front panel turned out quite red also even though I used Medium Walnut (Tone Finish, the pigmented toner) on it.

Here, "borrowed" from the Web, is an image of a T7-5 with its original finish. This is how I was trying to make mine look:

[Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c...513%29.jpg]
Photo by Joe Haupt, posted to Wikimedia Commons

Now, after yet a third round of masking off and spraying toner - this time Extra Dark Walnut (Tone Finish) on the top shoulders, top trim, and the inset "stripes" at lower left and right - here is how mine now looks:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_115.jpg]

Things did not go without issue. When I removed the newspaper and green Frog tape after spraying the columns and bottom trim the second time, a piece of veneer came off from the lower left corner of the front panel!

After walking away from it for awhile, I returned and tried to remove the piece of veneer from the tape as best as I could. It came off and splintered into pieces, of course. I did manage to glue the pieces back into place but a very small chip had disappeared nonetheless. This was filled with a little bit of Timber Mate. The cracks that remained after gluing the veneer fragments were also filled with Timber Mate.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_116.jpg]

I will touch that up with a little Medium Walnut sprayed into a can lid, and will apply it with a tiny brush.

Now, after the third round of masking off and spraying the top shoulders and bottom left and right stripes, a little bit of finish pulled off at lower right of the front:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_117.jpg]

I will wet sand this area and then touch it up in the same manner as above.

All of my 2018 cabinet work has been a bit of a battle. But I'm slowly getting there. Next comes application of the band switch decal and the RCA Victor decal...then the start of clear lacquer.

Working on this cabinet has kept my mind occupied while I wait for the doctors to get moving with my cancer.

[EdHolland]

Nice work Ron, I can understand the frustration of the "pull ups" It has been time for a little cabinet work for me today. Keep at it and we'll get there

[NostalgiaRadioTime]

Beautiful work, Ron! Nice save on the veneer pull. I had the same thing happen on my T6-1. It's one of those heart sinking moments (with a 4 letter word thrown in!)

I actually bought my T7-5 "restored". It was recapped and playing, and the cabinet was as you see it. I only replaced the torn grille cloth, the dial cover and dial face, and detailed the chassis. As such I don't have the ton of work attachment to it as I do my T6-1. So I've made the decision to part with it. I've already got someone interested in it. I agree the veneer is especially nice on the front, but I can tell the sides were re-glued by the previous owner. There is still some residual rippling on the inside lamination.

[Ron Ramirez]

Greg, thank you (and you too, Ed!). I would have been interested in yours if I had not put so much work into this one. But since I have (and since you apparently have a buyer), I'll stick with this one.

[morzh]

It looks great, Ron.

Now, as for exactly matching the image on the web, or on any photograph, as well as presenting one's own, there will always be differences in lighting that add or take away some subtle tones so the only way to exactly match something to something is to put them next to each other in a correctly lit room. This is where what we call "good enough" comes into play.

[Ron Ramirez]

Thanks Mike...and no, I was not trying to exactly match my cabinet to the other one found online - I was merely using the other photo as a guide.

And I agree, I think once I touch up the flaws, it will be good enough; especially considering the condition it was in when I bought the radio.

[Ron Ramirez]

A little while ago, I touched up the repaired veneer at the lower front corner of the front panel, and the spot at lower right front where the finish had lifted.

The results:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_118.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_119.jpg]

Not bad. I think this will do just fine. After some clear lacquer and some wet sanding, it should look somewhat better.

While I was at it, I went ahead and applied the two decals.

So, as a reminder, here is how the cabinet looked to begin with:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_001.jpg]

and how it looks now:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_120.jpg]

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum...-5_121.jpg]

The next job is to go around the grille openings with brown lacquer, then start spraying on clear lacquer.