[Eliot Ness]

Not sure where to post this, but the cabinet restoration forum seems appropriate.

The following message is posted on grillecloth.com:

Please note:
Due to the factory closing all patterns are in limited supply. When they are gone, they are gone forever. We are sorry and we thank you very much for your many years of support

http://www.grillecloth.com/index.html

If you have any restoration projects that will require grille cloth you might want to order it now. I'm fairly certain that John (grillecloth.com) supplied AES and Radiodaze with their cloth so this could be bad news for the hobby.

I'd also like to thank John and Mary Okolowicz for the wonderful service they have provided since 1991 supplying cloth and adding new patterns.

It doesn't seem that long ago when we didn't have the luxury of ordering new grille cloth. I vividly remember buying a scrap console hoping I could salvage enough cloth to fit in my Philco 70 cathedral. We used to joke about cutting 12" pieces out of cheap motel curtains and hoped that one of us would stumble upon a stash of new-old-stock grille cloth somewhere.

Collectors used to roam through fabric shops looking for something close, and one trick was to lightly mist some gold spray paint on the fabric. I remember the first reproduction cloth I saw was a fairly generic pattern, but it would look good in a lot of the early cathedrals so I bought several feet. Then John started offering many different patterns and really made the hobby a lot easier for us.

There's talk of Radiodaze looking for a replacement supplier and I sure hope that works out! Now excuse me while I place my grille cloth order

[Steve Davis]

Well, I just ordered a small stash. I look for John to to sellout pretty fast.

Steve

[Ron Ramirez]

This is serious news indeed. The Radio Daze website has a statement claiming they are "making attempts now to find new suppliers."

Let's hope both John and RD find new suppliers. I know John was supplying the cloth which RD sells.

Guess I had better get an order in also...maybe I can get enough for at least some of my radios.

[Art Hoch]

I am disappointed/apprehensive to hear this too. I never throw away any leftover grille cloth. Have about half of a boot box of scraps. Maybe will never use any of it but you never know. I have dipped into it in the past.

[dcastor]

I just put in a small order for myself, and mentioned to John that I hope he finds another supplier. He responded that due to his age, he's decided he will not actively seek a new supplier.

But, don't panic yet. My mother works in a co-op of artisans that includes a few weavers. I made initial contact with them, and they seem to be willing and desire to keep our community supplied. John indicated his manufacturer would probably be willing to provide details on how the current reproductions are made so that these weavers could make them to the same specifications as his former supplier. I've also asked him for details on how much fabric he typically sold.

These would be hand-made reproductions, so would probably demand a higher price than John charged. I'll explore commercial options as well, the quantities John sold will determine whether that option is even feasible.

So, everyone stay calm...don't panic yet

Dave

[Ron Ramirez]

Yes, it can still be done; all it takes is someone willing to enter the repro cloth business.

There is an outfit in Holland which currently sells reproduction grille cloth. They sell mainly Philips cloth, but I noticed one Zenith pattern among their offerings:

http://www.bendijkman.nl/index.php?optio...53&lang=en

Dave, I feel that the cloth is going to have to remain at around the same price it is now for any future venture to be successful. Start raising prices in this economy and most collectors, save perhaps for the well-heeled, will go back to looking for generic gold cloth in fabric stores.

An outfit like Radio Daze might have the financial strength to contract with a manufacturer so that cloth can continue to be available to us. The question is, are they willing to continue to supply authentic-looking cloth as John did, or will they simply foist something "close enough" upon us like those ugly Philco decals?

This is where all of you are going to have to make your voices heard. Contact them now and let them know that you want the same quality cloth which John supplied us with for several years.

And while you're ordering cloth from John, I would suggest you let him know how much you have appreciated his services. I included a personal thank-you when I made my order (which arrived today, by the way). I am sure John would appreciate it.

Edit: I am really sorry to hear that John O is leaving the business once he sells out of cloth. "Due to his age"? H**l, he's not much older than I am.

[Arran]

Time to start shopping for a contractor in China, or India, or elsewhere, or maybe ask our Dutch friends where they have theirs made. Another angle may be to ask the companies that sell reproduction automotive upholstery cloth, there are two, one called SMS and another called Original Automotive Interiors, their prices per yard are very similar to the grille cloth, less in some instances, if they aren't willing to have the cloth made they will know who can.
Regards
Arran

[dcastor]

Call me old-fashioned, but it would cause me physical pain to have to put Chinese made grille cloth in a Philco.

Dave

[Eliot Ness]

.....Edit: I am really sorry to hear that John O is leaving the business once he sells out of cloth. "Due to his age"? h**l, he's not much older than I am.

I think John might have been toying with the idea of retiring from the grille cloth biz in the past. If that's the case then his supplier ceasing production may have been the deciding factor in his retirement.

I also received my small order from John today but I'm sure they'll be patterns I'll need in the future that I won't have. John and Mary sure provided us with one heck of a valuable resource for restoring our old radios! I hope someone is able to supply us with cloth again in the future but I'm not terribly optimistic about it.

Hopefully they'll show up at Kutztown again and I can pick up a few more patterns and pick his brain about the nuts and bolts of sourcing the cloth.

[Ron Ramirez]

Dave, I didn't mean to disparage your post. Hey, if you can supply the community with more cloth at a reasonable price, that would certainly be great news for all...

John (Eliot) - Yes, please let us know if you get to talk to John Okolowicz at Kutztown. Yes indeed, they provided us with a great resource for many years.

[dcastor]

No worries Ron, didn't take it as disparaging

I'll certainly advise if I am able to work something out.

Dave

[Arran]

Call me old-fashioned, but it would cause me physical pain to have to put Chinese made grille cloth in a Philco.

Dave

I'm not saying that it would come to this but if everyone else thinks it's beneath them to bother doing the work it wouldn't bother me in the slightest being Chinese made if the cloth is the same pattern, colour, and quality as the original. It's sad really but it seems that in North America we really have a rampant epidemic of the "Can't Do" and "Won't do" disease and a near fatal case of "Mustn't Do" disease. But as I said maybe we should talk to our friend in the auto restoration business and find out how they reproduce upholstery fabric. If would be embarrasing if the Europeans could properly restore their sets but we couldn't restore ours.
Regards
Arran

[Eliot Ness]

More and more patterns are being depleted as collectors seem to be stocking up. I noticed that the #14 Philco ribbed is out of stock at both Grillecloth.com and Radio Daze. I think AES might still have some they list as pattern S-G440. For anyone who needs some cloth now is the time to buy. There are three vendors who are selling basically the same patterns so if one is out check with the other two before giving up hope:

http://www.grillecloth.com/grillcloth/pricelist.php

http://www.radiodaze.com/category/290.aspx

http://www.tubesandmore.com/

[Arran]

Quote: "Please note:
Due to the factory closing all patterns are in limited supply. When they are gone, they are gone forever. We are sorry and we thank you very much for your many years of support"

I just read that again, in my opinion that was very irresponsible to phrase it that way, "Gone forever" no wonder why there is a run on grille cloth, it's like running down the street telling everyone that the bank is going to close so everyone tries to withdraw their money at once. It may be gone from his store but I doubt that he will be that last one to ever have it reproduced, there is obviously a demand and where there is a demand someone will fill it. In the case of AES who is their supplier? They make no mention of anything being discontinued.
Regards
Arran

[Ron Ramirez]

Quote: "Please note:
Due to the factory closing all patterns are in limited supply. When they are gone, they are gone forever. We are sorry and we thank you very much for your many years of support"

I noticed yesterday that that statement is no longer on the Grillecloth.com home page. Instead, as he runs out of patterns, John is just removing them from his price list and his Flash pictorial showing different patterns.

AES is sort of doing the same thing; their website makes no bold "This is it! No more cloth!" statements. As they run out of patterns, they just put "NLA" (no longer available) next to the item description.

With all of this going on, I am wondering: Whatever happened to Michael Katz? He was selling repro grillecloth before John was. There was a fellow in Georgia that used to come to the Nashville swap meets selling cloth he had obtained from Michael. I always thought Michael's Philco V cloth looked better than John's V pattern cloth, although John's other patterns were more faithful to the originals overall.

AES was selling cloth from Michael Katz at one time, but they apparently switched to John Okolowicz (Radio Grille Cloth Headquarters) as their supplier in recent years.

At any rate, if there is a demand (and there still is), then someone willing to put up some $$$$ will supply us with cloth again. I just hope that if someone begins to produce cloth again, that they produce cloth that is faithful to the original patterns and not just some quick "close enough" patterns, like Radio Daze is doing with those non-original looking Philco decals.