GE Model F-80 Restoration

[Winky Dink]

This is a three-band radio produced in 1937 and 1938. The GE Model F-85 is the same radio in a console. I don’t particularly like the design--it looks to me like a highly ornamented wooden box. But it did clean up nicely.



In this photo I’m getting ready to replace the plastic dial cover. See the tone control at the lower right? It says, “normal,” “bass,” “foreign,” and “speech.” Well, I tuned in a shortwave station and they were speaking French. I can understand some French if it’s spoken slowly and deliberately, but I could only catch a few words from this broadcast. So, I turned the switch to “foreign,” and guess what?…they’re STILL speaking French! So what good is that?



Actually, I have a well-captioned 56-photo series of the restoration which shows a new (new to me) way to remove old lacquer…



…fabrication of the missing vertical-slide dial indicator…



…replacement of the Candohm resistor…



…and much more. If interested, here’s a direct link to the whole 56-photo series.

https://picasaweb.google.com/coldrb/...eat=directlink

I’m posting this here because some day someone else might have a GE F-80 or F-85 to restore, and they might stumble onto this post and get some help from it. Even so, I hope someone on this forum may find this useful.