Starting to work on the radio here are pictures. Restored front cover and clear coated it. cleaned the dust out of the chassis.

before:


After:_

That's quite a difference...

Did you get a peep out this Set yet?

Hi Lee

Nothing yet, I have to get the power supply chassis and the amplifier chassis recapped as well as this radio chassis before that happens. I hope to be ordering the caps for this set soon. As you can see from the pictures the radio is pretty gutless because there are no power supply or audio parts. These are all located on the other chassis.

Steve

Saint Stephen, it's got a ring to it!

I look at it more as therapy plus it's just a real joy to bring something back from the brink of destruction. For me this is the real joy of this hobby, you really get a feeling of victory when you can turn the power switch and everything comes to life. I'm not there yet but I will be I hope before Christmas, I'm hoping to watch The Grinch on it over the holidays. We'll see how that goes!

Steve

With that large pair of horizontal tambour doors, and the opening they cover being about waist height, that someone didn't convert the RCA into a bar radio. Nothing personal but as nice as that thing looks now I still prefer the look of a laquer finish over stain and polyurethane. I give full credit on the carpentry and veneer repairs not to mention the metal work. I still have problems repairing dented metal, I tried repairing a dented IF can yesterday and it still isn't right.
Regards
Arran

Arran

Thanks for your kind comments on my work! I agree that nothing beats the look of Laquer but I have no luck with it. Everytime I get weak and say "I'm going to try laquer again" I end up cratering and orange peal. I've gone all over the web for help and nothing works for me. I've tried preping the surface of many cabinet restorations; trying many things from denatured alcohol to mineral spirits. I've even tried Methyl Ethyl Ketone! Nothing helps. There is nothing worse then spending a lot of time restoring a piece, spraying it and watching it turn to $%IT before your eyes and having to re-strip it and start all over again! The bottom line is when I use poly there are no problems, I use what works for me.

Steve

Contamination with silicone oil from Pledge furniture polish or other sources can cause horrible lacquer problems with fisheye (AKA orange peel). Perhaps you just had bad luck in finding cabinets that had been Pledged to death. Since the oil can penetrate wood fibers, stripping or sanding down to bare wood is not guaranteed to cure the problem. It may even make it worse, by spreading the oil evenly around the whole cabinet.

I would not give up on lacquer forever. Some folks apply a coat of shellac as a sealer before applying lacquer, and I believe that will contain any silicone oil. For me, a big advantage of lacquer it's so reversible. If you don't like the look on the first go-round, just remove it and try again. This was a boon when I was trying to achieve a certain toning effect or get a very precise color match, and I needed multiple tries to get things just right. As you probably know, once poly dries, there is no going back, unless you want to make it darker or else get out the belt sander to remove everything.

There are many ways to skin the cat when it comes to refinishing. I try not to be a lacquer snob. If you like the results when using poly, and you don't need as many do-overs as I do, then go for it.

This set should be a real prize by the time you're done. I'm eager to see photos of the TV playing!

Phil Nelson

Had a nice warm sunny day so I took some better pictures. I really like the design of this cabinet, it just looks like a Juke Box to me.

There is a third way...Tung Oil:



It is a bit more labor intensive (more coats) but delivers a deep, rich finish when done. And, it's easily repaired/refinished. No matter how old it gets, if it dulls on you, just lightly wet sand with 1000 grit emery paper and glide on a thin coat with a folded paper towel.

That DuMont took about 15 coats, wet sanding between each 2 or 3, to achieve that mirror finish. It looks fabulous, as you can see.

Before:



The biggest issues with the back screen was brocken off corners. I had to redo the dove tail joints on both side of the top of the frame.



Finished:

Screens are sanded, primed and repainted. Frame is also restained and ready to be remounted to the back of the set. It doesn't look like much in the pictures but it's a very impressive and large back panel on this TV. Avery good design to remove the heat from the set while keeping curious fingers out!

Before:




After: The odd discoloration in the speaker grill is the overhead light in the room casting a shadow from the radio door.
The radio is missing an knob. Does anyone have a spare knob they would like to sell me? PLEASE!!


The nipper logo is back lighted when the radio power is on, also each band of the radio has it's own light so as you sellect
different bands the back-light will switch row by row. I can't wait to see this effect on the first power up!




Better view of the preset chigago stations indicator area.

A work of art! Both design and restoration...

Man, I've been watching that through your thread - that monstrous thing that you are so perfectly restoring, only to be slowed down by that tiny knob! Almost seems like the elephant & the mouse thing...

I wonder if you took some real good closeups of that other knob if someone might recognize it, or a possible suitable replacement, from within their collection?

Beautiful job, BTW. Your natural ability to look at something that's ailing, be it electronic or wood, and formulate a natural & straightforward plan to repair each area is inspiring. And, you have a much greater staying power than I, for certain...

Back when the previous owner was trying to sell it to one of us I was kind of dissapointed that I didn't get that set (I think it is my favorite of the projection TV cabinet styles), but after seeing the cabinet restoration work you did I'm kind of relieved/glad that you are the one restoring it, and not me.

You've worked miracles on that cabinet IMHO!

Keep up the good work.

Tom C.

Thanks Guys! Your all very kind. It's very exciting to see this coming together, for me once the wood work is done I know I can make the rest happen. I never do the electronics first, my fear is having a working chassis with no cabinet because it was to far gone to be able to pull back from the ashes. This cabinet needed so much work, I could see it had potential but I wasn't sure I could pull it off, the curved veneer "Oh what a bitch that was!". Now that I'm past all that, it's on to the electronics...

Tom I'm sorry about buying the set away from you!!

When I look at the pictures of this TV from then to now it's hard to equate it as the same unit. Right now money is tight with to kids in college, I'm trying to scrape money together for the caps and resisters to get going on the electronics.

As for my staying power with this project, well... Three days a week I stay with my 84 year old mother with Alzheimer's, my sister and brothers and I are doing around the clock care keeping her at her house for as long as we can manage it. Her biggest fear is going into a nursing home!! I've been working on the restoration in her garage, this set has literally kept me from going Koo Koo myself the endless hours that I'm over there keeping her company. When she's sleeping I go work on the set. What a horrible thing Alzheimer's is to slowing loose everything you are, it's terrible to watch her struggle with this!! Restoring this set has been very good therapy for me at this moment in my life.

Steve

I knew this was going to be a great thread, wonderful job.

I just got one of mine of to school (roll tide).

So sorry to hear about you Mom, that disease is an awful thing, robbing someone of there memories is so cruel, and hard on caregivers. Take care.

Steve, post a better picture of that knob and give dimensions. I have a few that look close. If I have one, it's yours.

Actually I just looked and I have a couple that look very close but they are green, not brown.

Steve, I understand the situation with your mom. We had to sell mom's home just about this time last year. She was not up to taking care of herself and my sister stepped in and brought her to Louisiana to live with family. She is doing well and will be 94 this December. But as you mentioned, the disease takes a lot away from a person.

I am in Australia until about Nov 4. I can help you with capacitors if you can wait that long. If you send a list, I will gather what I can and send them to you no charge of course. When I buy caps, I always over buy so that I have them in stock. Take your time and good on you and your family for helping your mom.

Here's the knob. Good luck hunting, thank you for looking.

Don

Thank you for your very generous offer, I will send you a list. Is Australia a business trip or pleasure?

Steve