Philco 38-7CS restoration

[bandersen]

I picked this radio up along with a couple others a few months ago.




I've been slowly looking for parts ever since and Larry Bordonaro from Old Time Replications came through with some really nice knobs



The only minor issue is that these knobs are plastic and won't hold up to a lot of use I think. I'm going to try to pop the bushing out of that mismatched wooden knob and insert into the new one.

[Reece]

Not sure why you think the plastic knob would stand less use than the wooden one? I would have thought the opposite?

[bandersen]

The wooden knob has a brass/bronze bushing. The plastic one doesn't.

The conecentric tuning is a weird mechanism. The original knob would have been bakelite with a spring behind it. You push it down hard so it rides against the knurled ring around the dial face then you rotate it. That's the 'fine-tuning' So the knob both slides up and down and rotates on that brass shaft.

I bet the original knob wore out from use and they substituted the wooden one. I've tried this knob briefly and while it looks great it seems like the plastic rubbing on metal won't hold up.

This video shows how it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VIknHBh3J0

[Reece]

I didn't realize this had the conecentric tuning. That was a strange setup and as you noted, only used for a short time, but well worth preserving as part of Philco history. I'm sure you can back up the plastic knob with metal to take the force.

[bandersen]

Looks like the concentric tuner is in good shape with the original knobs. Plus no crappy turntable hacked into it like mine!

It's great to have all these nice reference photos of an unmodified one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-ANTIQUE-...mZ150425611885

[bandersen]

I scored a Philco 38-4 tonight It's a little rough - speaker and grill are missing, some veneer damage, refinished in poly, etc. I picked it up real cheap and my initial thoughts are to scavenge parts for my 38-7CS.

Particularly, the original bakelite knobs and return spring, can capacitors and volume control. All of which are missing or damaged in the 38-7CS





I figure the 38-7CS is rarer and deserves a little TLC (7,700 vs 52,500 made).
Whatever I don't need, I'm planning on giving away for free.

[bandersen]

It's finally time to tackle the modified 38-7 chairside I picked up over two years ago. I was in pretty good condition except that someone hacked in a 78 rpm turntable



I decided that had to go. First, I stripped the cabinet. Then, patched in the hole with a combination of wood and filler. Finally, some new bookmatched veneer was applied.









No more hole

[Electronic M]

I bought one of these at the MARC Extravaganza donation auction this year, and had no idea that it was rare. Mine is a bit down it the restoration cue as the dial glass is smashed, the top is groved, the metal bezzle is bent, and some of the knobs are missing.
I'll be following this thread with interest.

Tom C.

[bandersen]

They made 7,750 according to Philcoradio.com. No idea how many are left, but I've seen at least a dozen others since I got mine.

I still have the entire cone-centric assembly including dial glass and bezel from the 38-4. Assuming I get the 38-7 tuning working properly, I won't be needing it.

[Electronic M]

Glad you want to hang on to them for a while 'cause I'm broke now, but later when you know you don't need the parts that I do, and I decide to start restoring mine lets make a deal.

Tom C.

[bandersen]

I've spent today filling in the grain. Kind of a PITA with the changing grain orientation as the recommend technique is to wipe off the excess going against the grain.
I ended up going at a 45 degree angle where the alternating orientations meet. It's not filled in quite as fully as I'd like but it's not bad.

[Reece]

You got that stuff in the red cup from Starbucks, didn't you.

[leadlike]

What are you using for filler? Did you mix it with stain first?

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by Reece

You got that stuff in the red cup from Starbucks, didn't you.

Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever had Starbucks coffee before

Originally Posted by leadlike

What are you using for filler? Did you mix it with stain first?

Constantine's paste walnut grain filler. It's oil based and quite dark out of the can. I just thinned it with some mineral spirits as indicated. It took about 30 minutes to set up hard enough to start rubbing off the excess.

[Electronic M]

When your coffee is like tar or grain filler it is time to get it elsewhere.

What is the purpose/effect of grain filler?