Ooops, the first part was under 'vintage radio' rather than 'Restoration Stories' - luckily, not a hanging offence on here - maybe a mod could kindly shunt it please?
[Your Wish is my Command - Joe]
So, here's the work undertaken on the cabinetry to complete the restoration:
I glued the two parts of the broken glass dial back together with superglue, then reinforced the dial on the back using epoxy plastic metal. Fortunately, the break was in a part of the dial that was opaque, so the repair wasn’t noticeable and the finished result looks like a crack rather than a breakage, so doesn't detract too much from the appearance of the set. Indeed, from a few feet away it isn't noticeable at all.
I carefully removed the speaker grille fabric to see if it could be washed, reversed and reattached. I soaked it in stain remover, but it was just too far gone, bearing in mind that the speaker fabric is a major feature of the set's appearance, so I selected what I felt was a suitable replacement. Restorers often debate what the best way is to attach fabric speaker grille material, and I’ve found that by far the best is an adhesive which is aptly named ‘STUK’ rapid spray fabric adhesive. It’s colourless and comes in a 500 mL aerosol can with a nozzle to adjust the rate of delivery from low to high. You spray the board – not the fabric, and although it has excellent ‘grab’ it does allow you time to stretch the material taut and to adjust the horizontal and vertical patterning of the fabric so that it looks just right.
The veneer on the front edge of the cabinet had split and chipped off in places, so I completely removed it and got some iron-on beech edge-banding off e-bay, which was a good replacement. I carefully stripped the flaking lacquer off the rest of the cabinet back to the veneer using a cabinet scraper, and applied four coats of Danish oil, allowing it to fully cure for 48 hours between coats. Danish oil doesn’t simply ‘dry’ - it goes through a chemical change as it cures, making a durable finish, which polishes up nicely, but unlike toner and lacquer which ‘sits’ on the veneer, Danish oil, soaks into the veneer, so once applied, the change is irrevocable.
The three brass discs (about 2.5" diam) fit over the holes in the front behind the knobs, and as the lettering on the discs such as Waveband, Vol/Tone, and Tuning, was very worn I cleaned up the discs and got an engraver to engrave the lettering, which I'd hoped I could then fill with black gloss modelling paint, then when it dried, clean off the surplus with thinners to highlight the lettering, which is the technique I use to restore white lettering on bakelite knobs. That was the theory, but the difference between theory and practice in practice is greater than the difference in theory! It wasn’t a success as the engraving wasn’t deep enough to pick out with paint or wax, but the lettering is clear enough to see at close range anyway.
This model isn’t especially noteworthy, wouldn’t have ordinarily have caught my eye, and was too far gone for me to have restored by choice. But as it was for my nephew, I felt obliged to give it a go, and I’m pleased with the end result, which has turned out better than I’d expected at the outset, and now that it’s finished, I think it’s quite an attractive set. I'll soon have a second opinion when I hand the set over to my nephew!
Here are a few more pics including the speaker fabric, the 'Stuk' fabric adhesive used to secure the speaker grille fabric, and the finished set.
Shame to have to part with it!
Hope the write-up and pics are of interest, and maybe even a little inspiration!
[Your Wish is my Command - Joe]
So, here's the work undertaken on the cabinetry to complete the restoration:
I glued the two parts of the broken glass dial back together with superglue, then reinforced the dial on the back using epoxy plastic metal. Fortunately, the break was in a part of the dial that was opaque, so the repair wasn’t noticeable and the finished result looks like a crack rather than a breakage, so doesn't detract too much from the appearance of the set. Indeed, from a few feet away it isn't noticeable at all.
I carefully removed the speaker grille fabric to see if it could be washed, reversed and reattached. I soaked it in stain remover, but it was just too far gone, bearing in mind that the speaker fabric is a major feature of the set's appearance, so I selected what I felt was a suitable replacement. Restorers often debate what the best way is to attach fabric speaker grille material, and I’ve found that by far the best is an adhesive which is aptly named ‘STUK’ rapid spray fabric adhesive. It’s colourless and comes in a 500 mL aerosol can with a nozzle to adjust the rate of delivery from low to high. You spray the board – not the fabric, and although it has excellent ‘grab’ it does allow you time to stretch the material taut and to adjust the horizontal and vertical patterning of the fabric so that it looks just right.
The veneer on the front edge of the cabinet had split and chipped off in places, so I completely removed it and got some iron-on beech edge-banding off e-bay, which was a good replacement. I carefully stripped the flaking lacquer off the rest of the cabinet back to the veneer using a cabinet scraper, and applied four coats of Danish oil, allowing it to fully cure for 48 hours between coats. Danish oil doesn’t simply ‘dry’ - it goes through a chemical change as it cures, making a durable finish, which polishes up nicely, but unlike toner and lacquer which ‘sits’ on the veneer, Danish oil, soaks into the veneer, so once applied, the change is irrevocable.
The three brass discs (about 2.5" diam) fit over the holes in the front behind the knobs, and as the lettering on the discs such as Waveband, Vol/Tone, and Tuning, was very worn I cleaned up the discs and got an engraver to engrave the lettering, which I'd hoped I could then fill with black gloss modelling paint, then when it dried, clean off the surplus with thinners to highlight the lettering, which is the technique I use to restore white lettering on bakelite knobs. That was the theory, but the difference between theory and practice in practice is greater than the difference in theory! It wasn’t a success as the engraving wasn’t deep enough to pick out with paint or wax, but the lettering is clear enough to see at close range anyway.
This model isn’t especially noteworthy, wouldn’t have ordinarily have caught my eye, and was too far gone for me to have restored by choice. But as it was for my nephew, I felt obliged to give it a go, and I’m pleased with the end result, which has turned out better than I’d expected at the outset, and now that it’s finished, I think it’s quite an attractive set. I'll soon have a second opinion when I hand the set over to my nephew!
Here are a few more pics including the speaker fabric, the 'Stuk' fabric adhesive used to secure the speaker grille fabric, and the finished set.
Shame to have to part with it!
Hope the write-up and pics are of interest, and maybe even a little inspiration!
Regards, David.
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
BVWS Member.
G-QRP Club Member 1339.
'I'm in my own little world, but I'm happy, and they know me here'
