Great save!

Looks like cadmium to me too. Phosphoric acid was the only stuff I tried that had an effect. But I worried about neutralizing it, etc. and decided that it wasn't bad enough in my case to worry about.

I like some chassis, like Phil's radio, when they're polished. But I prefer the original look if it's achievable.

John

Just a thought: to fix the chipped out parts you might be able to make your own photofinish. Take several good closeup photos of the good veneer in different places, different lightings. Print out and compare by the damaged areas, adjust, experiment. Get printed out on a good color printer. There are articles on line giving different ideas about photofinish.

Reece

Phil's radio does look amazing, but I think I'll leave this set like it is. It would be a ton of work to clean up both chassis. Even the speaker frame is greenish.

Leaving it alone should be fine. The green coating won't jump off the chassis and bite you. I don't bother trying to make TV chassis beautiful. Except for Radio Craftsman, they weren't shiny leaving the factory. Something like that Midwest radio chassis was made shiny to compete with radios that had real chrome -- a poor man's E.H. Scott.

Phil

Wow Bandersen... Now all you need is a neon sign saying "Authorized Admiral Dealer" to hang up above those sets! :D

Good idea. I'll setup a search for vintage Admiral signs on eBay :)

I dug through my veneer scraps and found some Oak. It's close but needs to be more yellow.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/03-01.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/03-02.jpg

Cadmium
 

I know I said I wasn't going to mess with it, but I couldn't resist doing a little cleaning test on the tuner cover plate.

First I tried Naval Jelly with some success, but then I tried Rust-oleum rust stripper. Wow - it instantly turned from yellow to brilliant silver :D Just like a TarnX commercial.

I think I just might have to polish the whole chassis if it's really that easy.
http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/04-01.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/04-02.jpg


I took a peek under the chassis. Nothing too bad. Just the usual oozing wax caps and one has already blown. The seller had turned it on several times :(
She was about to plug it in again when I came to pick it up. :no:
I nicely pointed out the hazards of doing that.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/04-03.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/04-04.jpg http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/04-05.jpg

I have one of these but it looks really rough. The finish is pretty well gone. I did recap mine and got it sorta working...gotta dig into it again one of these days.

I bought a maroon bakelite Admiral rabbit-ear antenna at an auction Saturday that would be a perfect match for that television.

Cool, could you post a picture of it ? Maybe I could find one of my own :)

I've been examining the finish more closely and it is weird. I think leadlike is right - some sort of filler and stain. I found a worn area where you can see 3 distinct layers. Wood, pinkish/white and a yellowish top layer. That topmost layer may have yellowed with age. Hard to say.

I hope I can just touch it up a little with oil paint and clearcoat it with lacquer to protect it.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/05-01.jpg

I took a closer look at another blond set that is supposedly Korina wood

It sure looks like the same type of filler/stain surface though. Why use Korina if you're just gonna cover it up ?

Anyhow, the Sentinel is in fantastic shape so I'll use it for my benchmark of what it should look like.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/05-02.jpg



Switching topics - here's the lower chassis with a huge coke bottle 5U4. All the tubes test good :)

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/05-03.jpg

Should I be concerned about the wax oozing out of the main power transformer? I've seen melted wax in several areas of this set. Perhaps it spent some time in a really warm environment?

Would it be worth opening up that xfrmr and repacking the wax?

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/05-04.jpg

A little wipe down with mild phosphoric acid cleaned it right up. Stinky but not too messy at all.

http://www.bobandersen.com/images/Ad...0A16/05-05.jpg

I'll get a pic of the antenna up tonight. I didn't even notice it was an Admiral until I got it home. I just like the old TV rabbit ears for cool-looking FM antennas.

Here's some pics - I didn't get one of the whole thing, but it has marble-sized matching bakelite balls at the tips of the arms. I think the base is on backwards, my guess is that the logo should be under the thumbscrew that locks the arms in place.

White Korina a.k.a. Limba... I have a notpad I made out of limba back in High School shop. This makes it about 45 years old. Where the paper from the roll covers it the wood is much lighter than where it was exposed to the light. We used "Deft" for the finish, so I don't know if it's the finish that's darkened or the wood. It is as dark there as where you have some finish missing. But I don't remember it ever looking as white as in your photos. If anything, I remember it having a slightly greenish tint.

It looks like they used a semitransparent finish and a filler as leadlike suggested. Maybe to make the sets look more uniform. Maybe to protect it from changing color due to light exposure like happened to my notepad.

John

Sorry, my post was a little confusing. The Korina/Limba cabinet is from my Sentinel 430 while that worn spot is from my new Admiral. The Sentinel is very light all over.

I've been studying the link that leadlike provided and I believe that the 'limed' process eb2jim describes matches what I've got. I'm pretty sure my base veneer is red oak and that's the dark color. Then I think it has a think coat of white making it look pinkish. Finally, a coat of something to make it yellowish.

So, I think I'll experiment with some red oak, white oil paint and amber shellac or lacquer.

Gah - I've been spending way more time on refinishing than electrical restoration lately :drool:

Hey, wadayaknow I picked up almost the same antenna a few months ago, but mine isn't marked Admiral. It's a 'Radeon' and slightly different in style and black not brown.

You're right, it does look good next to the blond finish :) Prolly even better if it was brown like yours.