[old_radios]

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd share a few of my Philco restorations with you. I like seeing before and after pictures, so here's a few of mine.

The first one is a 38-89 that I purchased at a very good price. I just restored the finish on this one without refinishing.

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The second is a model 70. This one was worse than it looks in the before photo. I used Dick Oliver's repro bottom trim on this one. New grille cloth also. Also found the original knobs (after pic was taken.) I didn't clean the escutcheon, I prefer to leave these as found.

(expired link deleted by site admin)

Pat

[Ron Ramirez]

Beautiful work! Thanks for sharing.

[old_radios]

Beautiful work! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Ron!

[Harlan]

Hi Pat,
I'm new here and was viewing some of the posts on the cabinet portion of the forum. I was very impressed with your work at restoring the cabinets on those two radios!
I am trying my first restoration. It is a console 41-608 and the cabinet is in need of some work. By looking at your first one and saying you got it to look this beautiful "without refinishing", I'm wondering how you do that.
I really have no experience with this area. I've done woodwork staining and varnishing around my home but am curious, if you don't mind sharing with a newbie, how do you go about accomplishing such a beautiful job.
No doubt it is more than a short note can explain but still curious about what you did with scratches, bare areas etc. The cabinet I'm dealing with has a large circular water ring on the top. The rest of the cabinet is not too bad but looks very dusty and dull, etc.
Thanks for your response and help.
Best regards,
Harlan

[old_radios]

Hi Harlan,

I'm no expert, but I like to try different methods that I've learned from people and add different steps that I think may work better.

I have never removed a water ring, but they are a common thing to see on old radios. Good old' Uncle Pete just had to rest his Highball glass on the old Philco.

My radio had some water or moisture damage on the side, and the lacquer finish was missing with some bare wood areas on the top and sides, but the front photo finish was perfect (WHAT!) so it didn't need a strip/refinish. I first cleaned the radio really well with some mineral spirits and 0000 steel wool, then after it dried, some warm water and Murphy's oil soap. After letting it dry a few days, I lightly sanded some areas to get the good lacquer to transition smoothly to the missing lacquer and stain. I then used a matching stain and went over the entire cabinet. This colored the areas with bare wood and all of the little chips etc.

After I was happy the way it looked, I re lacquered it with about 5 coats of clear gloss Deft lacquer (just because I can get it at Walmart).

Probably the most important step is to rub the lacquer out with very fine wet-sand paper and water to get the tiny bumps out and then course pumice, finer pumice and finally the very fine Rottenstone, the last three rubbed with a felt pad and rubbing oil. You could get these online at a Wood finishing place.

When I was done, I applied Johnson paste wax (just because I had it, I haven't tried other brands)

Lot's of steps, but I like doing this type of work. I keep a radio in the garage and whenever I have a few minutes, I do a little. There are a lot of different ways to do this type of stuff, but this one works well for me. I learned these steps from Bret's old radios videos and from tips I read or found online.

Have fun! -Pat

[Texasrocker]

Great Job Indeed!! Beautiful refin work!! I will share a few tips I have used with success also without all the muss & fuss involved using slow drying finishes. I have saved several old vintage radio wood cabinets by carefully reglueing/clamping, stripping orig nitrocellous lacquer finishes using water based finish removers in several coats using steel wool. Followed by replacing missing veneers etc, sanding, and using Formbys Tung Oil in as many coats as necessary to match orig finish tones. Then, after drying overnight, applying several coats of fast drying automotive acrylic clear lacquer ( dries in minutes) between coats, add new decals if necessary before final clear coat. The spray cans of auto clear lacquers with "fan tip spray" such as made by "Dupli-Color" auto touch-up finishes, dries clear FAST!! Use only in well-ventilated areas with no-flames from pilot-lights from heaters, etc! Use a respirator over your nose & mouth! Follow directions on the spraycan label!! You can build up several fast drying clear lacquer finishes in 1 afternoon, without "pitting probs" associated with using all the old style finishes of nitro-based toning lacquers, etc, going on for several days with "humidity" probs, and all else trouble involved. AutoZone has these spraycans in stock. My most recent refins look as good as any of the Mohawk finishes I have tried in the past, with much less effort! I however dont mean to ever offend anyone of using different "true blue" methods!! Just sharing a method I have found that looks Awesome and works for me!! Acrylic clear finish lacquers dry Fast!! Without all the muss & fuss , and give the same "mirror finish" as the old nitrocell final finishes in my honest opinion. Saves money & time also!! My customers are all very satisfied with their restored radios refins!! Glossy,Glossy!! ol TR