[Gene Pederson]

I am in need of two or three good pics of the top of this console that has the original veneer and finish. If anyone has any could you please post them.
My set evidently had veneer issues and some "bodywork" was done on the top. Filler was added and then the whole top was painted flat black. Well at this point in time more of the veneer has lifted and broken so I just stripped the whole top of all the veneer and will attempt to start over.

I believe it had walnut veneer, but someone may know differently. And the little strips of dark wood that are used as separators....I need to know what those are made of also.
Thanks in advance!

Gene

[TA Forbes]

Gene I have a 665, but as you can see the cabinets are different.

Ron: would the tops possibly be similar?

[Arran]

I hope you took some pictures of what was underneath before you removed the veneer? If not you will not only need photos of another top but some measurements taken of the various sections of veneer as well.
Regards
Arran

[Gene Pederson]

I can't possibly be the ONLY one on here who owns a 660X........can I????
Is there someone who can provide a picture of the top of this set?
Thanks,

Gene

[Ron Ramirez]

I just remembered...the 660X cabinet is identical to the 1935 version of the 16X.

1935 model 16X: http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/1935a.htm#c
(This sort of shows the top of the cabinet.)

1936 model 660X: http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/1936a.htm#ap
(This is the 660X I used to own...this photo also shows the top, but probably not quite to your liking.)

I've owned a (1935) 16X and a 660X in the past, but do not own either version now...and I never took a photo of just the top of either one.

Regarding the two thin strips of very dark wood on top, Arran told me once what type of wood that is, but I do not recall. Arran, can you help? It is a very soft wood, and very easily damaged by sanding.

[Arran]

It may be Australian walnut, does it have sort of a black walnut colour but with parallel stripes like ribbon mahogany? I don't know how hard or easy it is to damage though, many Rogers-Majestic built sets had most of the cabinet covered with the stuff, even consoles and they don't seem to chip or gouge any worse then the conventional French walnut that most sets use.
Regards
Arran

[Gene Pederson]

Ron,
Thanks for the info on the1935 16X I was able to find one in the completed listings on the bay with an excellent picture of the top of the set!!

Arran, I will keep that type of veneer in mind for the strips.

Thanks again guys!

Gene

[Arran]

That is unless you are thinking of the species of veneer with alternating black and lighter coloured stripes often used for banding an inlay, that's called Zebrano or Zebra wood. If you stripped the top off and didn't throw away the veneer yet see if anything matches that description.
Regards
Arran

[Ron Ramirez]

Arran, we're talking about the two thin strips of veneer on top of the cabinet, running front to back, as shown here:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/gallery/images/1936/660x.jpg]

Very dark brown, almost black - and very soft wood. The 660X also has those thin strips on either side of the front panel, as you can see above.

The majority of the veneer on top is some sort of Walnut. It's the thin, very dark strips that are in question.

[Arran]

It could be Australian walnut possibly, though the traditional wood to use for an inlay like that would be Madagascar Ebony but that is rather hard wood. It may be something they sometimes called "Orientalwood", I have no idea where that comes from, possibly Indonesia. Since it is just a thin inlay you could probably use any dark wood and it would pass inspection.
Regards
Arran

[Gene Pederson]

Arran,
here is picture of the top.
[Image: http://i1185.photobucket.com/albums/z345...16xtop.jpg]

Gene

[Arran]

Most of the top seems to be 1/4 saw French walnut veneer, book matched, which is what Philco liked to use on many of their cabinets, they just arranged the grain on the two side pieces so it runs perpendicular to the center section. I can't say for sure what the black inlay was without seeing it up close, it could be ebony, if you can find a small piece of ebony veneer to cut some strips from it would certainly work.
Regards
Arran