[BILL]

I restored one of these 20 big box a couple of years ago, got it working on old George Bush's 80th birthday, tuned in a news cast telling of his sky diving! Got two more 20 big boxes parts or restore,
Is your big box got the brass colored on/off switch and other hard ware on the front ? or is it nickled plated like mine? I've been told that they where all brass color, why is mine nickled? Is there any one out there in Philco land that knows AK and the 20 big box : nickled plating? BILL

[Ron Ramirez]

Hi Pete

Remembering back when I had the AK 20 Compact many years ago...I did not know that the diamond dial pointers were removable! When I repainted my 20C back then (the wrong color, as it turned out), I left those in place.

Thanks very much for the kind offer; I really appreciate it. When I get started on my 20 Big Box...again, probably in the spring...I will certainly contact you then.

Hey Bill, hard to tell on mine but I think the on/off switch on my set is brass? Doesn't appear to be nickel plated. Ditto the corner decorations, which are currently rust in color. Apparently yours is not the only one with nickel trim, as Pete also mentioned those parts being nickel plated.

[DeckApe]

I'll ask a potentially daft question... when you nickel-plate, what do you use for the base metal?

[Alan Douglas]

If you mean what do you plate on to, copper or brass. Steel parts need to be copper-plated first, or they will rust through, as nickel is porous.

[DeckApe]

That is indeed what I meant, Alan. Thank you. So for the nickel vs. brass debate for the trim bits, it is apparently a question of whether (a) it was an option, (b) several somebodies dressed up their personal sets, or © whether the nickel-plate wore off over the years.

Radio archaeology is fun!

[AI2V]

The only AK box models with the nickel trim were the 20 Big Box and the 19; all of the others used gold plated brass. This includes the on/off switch. If you see one with brass, it's been polished too much and wore the gold or nickel off.

Yesterday I got around to firing up a recently acquired 1924 AK 10B breadboard. After a 100% disassembly (yes, 100%), cleaning, and replacement of cable and the two caps, it worked upon turn-on! It will join several other AK breadboards, battery, and AC sets in the collection; I'm running out of room!

[BILL]

I've got a Atwater Kent question , my big box 20 has clips for the log sheet and manual ,and a clip for a pencil !, I have the AK manuals inthe parts manual it list a pencil, My question what does it look like ? any one have an original ? most likely it had "ATWATER KENT " printed on it ,BILL