[auplater]

Hey auplater,

What did you end up using to plate the tube shield with?

As you probably already know, gold toned Edison phonograph parts were gold toned only for certain models - some of the more expensive ones - just as they were for Victor Victrolas.

That's nickel...it actually looks alot like the original non-rusted areas. I may overplate with tin after further work, but I want to see how the chasis looks with this finish.

Tin's a bit more of a pain to get to look good... too soft, unless I reflow it... which would make it too brite.

John L.

[Texasrocker]

Very nice restoration indeed! Keeping orig lacquer finishes "simple" as possible is a very good thing! Otherwise, get ready to set-up a very expensive spray booth with proper ventilation, and use the orig slow method of building up layer after layer of good quality nitro-cellulose clear lacquers instead. That cabinet looks GREAT!! Now, why all the fuss on replating the tube-shields & chassis? Stude, Im not sure, but I agree with you! A good ol careful spray paint job on chassis & tube shields works for me also. I havent retired yet or have the spare time to re-plate a vintage chassis. Im not opposed to it though either! No dis-respect intended at all Auplater!! Your doing a Fantastic job on your Philco indeed! But why, go to the trouble of actually replating a chassis, & tube shields that no one else will see unless you face the front of that beautiful cabinet to the "wall"? I guess if I had the plating equip, I would do the same? Not sure though. Perhaps Im not as motivated as others as I should be in restoring to total "perfection"? My aim is to do 150% restoration under-the-chassis electronic restorations instead. I am guilty of having MANY of my wifes preferred vintage 1930s-40s Arvin, Kent, etc (noblitt sparks) metal midget sets re-Chromed. They look Great after replating! I can understand if someone has the equip & supplies, expertise on hand, go for it!! Great job Auplater!! Thanks for sharing photos!! Enjoy your Philco!! Keep up the Great work always!!

[auplater]

Very nice restoration indeed! Keeping orig lacquer finishes "simple" as possible is a very good thing! Otherwise, get ready to set-up a very expensive spray booth with proper ventilation, and use the orig slow method of building up layer after layer of good quality nitro-cellulose clear lacquers instead. That cabinet looks GREAT!! Now, why all the fuss on replating the tube-shields & chassis? Stude, Im not sure, but I agree with you! A good ol careful spray paint job on chassis & tube shields works for me also. I havent retired yet or have the spare time to re-plate a vintage chassis. Im not opposed to it though either! No dis-respect intended at all Auplater!! Your doing a Fantastic job on your Philco indeed! But why, go to the trouble of actually replating a chassis, & tube shields that no one else will see unless you face the front of that beautiful cabinet to the "wall"? I guess if I had the plating equip, I would do the same? Not sure though. Perhaps Im not as motivated as others as I should be in restoring to total "perfection"? My aim is to do 150% restoration under-the-chassis electronic restorations instead. I am guilty of having MANY of my wifes preferred vintage 1930s-40s Arvin, Kent, etc (noblitt sparks) metal midget sets re-Chromed. They look Great after replating! I can understand if someone has the equip & supplies, expertise on hand, go for it!! Great job Auplater!! Thanks for sharing photos!! Enjoy your Philco!! Keep up the Great work always!!

Thanks for the kind words...

I'm not gonna plate the chasis... too much work... plus it's in pretty good shape as is... at most I'll brush plate the rust spots with zinc to match the original look after final cleanup.

The tube shields? Well.... my plating opn. was reaching what I term "critical mess", I traded some brass plating on hardware for cherry and walnut lumber from a guy down the street, I had to rejuvenate the moribund plating processes anyway... you get the picture.

Actually, once the opn. is up and running, plating isn't much harder than painting, and the price was right

Now.. on to re-capping the chasis.... and replacing frayed wires...

John L.

John L.

[Texasrocker]

Welcome to these forums Auplater! I once worked at a Auto Window Tinting shop in Austin that did gold-plating as a "side-biz" on new Car/ Truck mfgrs orig factory-chrome plated "trim pcs". It was a simple process really watching it be done, but the gold-plating machine & the gold (plating powder?) used was quiet a expensive investment if I remember correctly, the machine cost about $4 grand back then? It was about the size of a roll-around battery charger! The new car emblems were carefully removed, laid flat on a small table, and the orig chrome plated surfaces of the the trim pcs were transformed to gold plating in a matter of minutes! Are you set-up to do chrome-plating also? If so, I can do business with you via my vintage radio radios/amplifiers electronics repair shop, and my good friends( great customers!)... that lil' ol' band from Texas,... ZZ Top, who LOVE every pc of vintage "tube-gear" in new ( high quality) vat-type plated CHROME!! The EPA wont allow me to setup a vat where Im located, even out of the local city-limits here! I have used the "Alsa Chrome" products on a few vintage bakelight radio-cabinets with mixed results for these Tx Rock Icons! Can you "chrome-plate" a pair of vintage Levi's? (hee hee)... if so... lemme know! We can do business if your a chrome-plater also? Your doing a great job on your vintage Philco indeed! Keep up the great work!

[auplater]

I still do some chrome on a limited basis, but they're small pieces (emblems, repros, that sort of thing) as opposed to car bumpers, safe boxes, grill trim I used to manage on large industrial lines. Levi's? given enough money and some leeway.. sure....I gold plated a scorpion once for some guys outside of Tuscon...long story..

So... the short answer is, yes if it's a small enough piece and worth my while.... most nowadays is custom reproduction of old brass, nickel, copper, zinc, whatever others can't figure out how to do.. 8)

The chasis is coming along well.. got 6 of the 10 cans plated. Quick question: those who've painted their chasis... did you strip all the components (tubes, transformers, caps) off the chasis, or selectively mask them and spray the remaining surface. I'm leaning towards the latter, but masking the variable caps on the rf sub-chasis will be a bear.

thanx.

John L.

[Texasrocker]

Hello Auplater! Thanks for the explanation of your re-plating services! That is a "artform",.. all in its self! I have been using a company in Houston (shipping items there) from across state, (small vintage Arvin metal- midget radios, Silvertones, etc, that have a "heavy-tin" stamped small metal cabinet. They measure approx 6"w x 4 h"x 4"d. That plating company is called "Bright Metals of the Heights", located in the central Houston area. They normally re-chrome the larger items such as bumpers, grills, etc. They have been charging me $60. ea, and do a fantastic job on plating the outside of cabinet only, incl the outside surface small metal flat rear panel pc that goes on the chassis to protect the radio (sm rear vented panel pc.) These little metal midget Radios types can be seen on eBay from time to time if you wish to see one. Just do a ebay search for "arvin metal radio", and or "Silvertone metal radio". They are very small vintage tube-type radios!
As far as painting the chassis' & tubeshields etc on vintage Philco "mid-chassis" radios, I usually do a complete "point-to-point" rewire under the chassis! It takes time, but I do carefully mark all wires incoming from the mid-chassis area, and completely remove that part of the chassis. I then carefully remove the variable tuning cap so I can replace all the old deteriorated orig rubber-grommets located under the tuning cap, & replace with new. Also, I replace the orig mid-chassis mounting grommets as well. New rubber Philco chassis grommets are avail at :www.RenovatedRadios.com Ed has a good selection of new rubber-grommets on his website, and a pleasure to order from! If the orig wiring on the power trans is OK?.. I simply "re-sleeve" each individual wire with shrink-tubing. If the wires are "crusty", I completely pull the AC trans from chassis, dismantle the AC Trans case, and use new wire all the way into the trans connection points. Otherwise, just "taping-off" works well also the tube-sockets, IF trans housings etc. After cleaning the chassis carefully, I use Ace Hardware brand "chrome"metallic spray paint. It dries very fast, then I add a coat of "clear" automotive type acrylic-lacquer (dries very fast also), made by "Dupli-Color", and is avail at most autopart stores! Makes vintage radio chassis look awesome!... however, not as "shiny" as actual re-plating! Your doing a Great-Job on your vintage Philco! Your chassis will be "show-quality" indeed!

[auplater]

Got the caps, cloth covered wire, etc. for the chasis go today... already recapped C127 & C126 with 10uF 450V caps.

"I usually do a complete "point-to-point" rewire under the chassis! It takes time, but I do carefully mark all wires incoming from the mid-chassis area, and completely remove that part of the chassis. I then carefully remove the variable tuning cap so I can replace all the old deteriorated orig rubber-grommets located under the tuning cap, & replace with new..."

I figured you'd say that. Most of the wiring looks OK, after doing the electrolytics and the paper caps, testing the tubes, etc I'll see if it'll play, using the light bulb/variac method. If it runs, I'll re-install it and leave the complete re-wire for a snowy winter week or two.

I made new chasis-to-cabinet washers out of a gum rubber sandpaper cleaner using a hole saw and drill press, to replace the old dried out ones. Works great!
[Image: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/aup...rubber.jpg]

Got the restore items from Joe Coco @ WJOE.com. Quick response and reasonable pricing.

Question for Ron et. als.: On the pwr. supply cap C123 (dual 8uf/10uf) it looks like the positive leg is tied to chasis gnd for the 10 uF section as per the schematic and what I see under the hood. Am I reading this right? Just wanted to make sure, since elsewhere, C62 has the negative side tied to chasis gnd, for all 3 sections.
[Image: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/aup...16_PWR.jpg] [Image: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/aup...6_PWR2.jpg]

Thanks for any help you can give.

More pics to come. l8tr

John L.

[auplater]

Just an update if anyone's reading...

Recapped the electrolytics
[Image: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/aup...RECAP3.jpg]

Had to bore out the wax/tar/foil on the 3 cap can... carefully using a drillpress and a spade bit
[Image: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/auplater/BORE1.jpg]

Started further clean-up and touchup of the chasis...
[Image: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/aup...RECAP2.jpg]
[Image: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/aup...RECAP1.jpg]

Going to test the tubes this week... hopefully most will be operable.

Going well so far... now I gotta order some 1/2 watt resistors.... this may take 'till Xmas...

John L.

[Ron Ramirez]

Question for Ron et. als.: On the pwr. supply cap C123 (dual 8uf/10uf) it looks like the positive leg is tied to chasis gnd for the 10 uF section as per the schematic and what I see under the hood. Am I reading this right?

Hi John

Correct, electrolytic (123), 10 uF 50 volts, has its POSITIVE lead connected to ground; NEGATIVE to B-.

Looks to me like you are doing a great job with that chassis...interesting way of getting the guts out of those electrolytic cans. I'll have to try that sometime. Digging out the innards of a dry electrolytic is a pain in the behind, for certain.