The CT100 is back!
 

Got the cabinet back from restoration around 11:30 today, and got it partially assembled. To take you back, here's the before shots:

pic...

And now....

:cool:

Total cost of the resto was around $500. Most of that figure was for millwork as the whole bottom half had to be remade due to extensive water damage. Basically the cabinet was cut off at the lower marking line and redone in solid mahogany with veneer applied on top. The restorer said that nahogany was the wood of choice due to the weight of the set and the relative stress that would be placed on the bottom joints.

One more shot

Looks great
 

Fantastic!

I took the liberty of running one of the pics thru Photoshop and lightening it up a bit to bring out the detail, hope that's OK?

Very cool Tim, but can you lighten up the pics so we can see 'em? :boink:

You had him change the color! I like the new color way better!

Wow!

:thmbsp:

Re: Looks great
 

I appreciate that, could you lighten the first one up a bit? :)

According to Father and Son Restoration, that is the color the set should be. Apparently in his estimation it was sunfaded to the point it was at.

Rob, do you remember who I got this cabinet from? I remember it was somebody from Pennsylvania off eBay, but it was so long ago I can't remember who. The picture tube came from Chicago and the mounting hardware and such came from Van Nuys. For those of you not familiar with my set, I pieced it together from pieces throughout the US. The chassis kindly came from Steve McVoy. Now, time to try and find some electronical things for this critter. Since I've got the second one, I can figure out how to wire things up, and as I recall I do have a 15G picture tube socket around here somewhere.

The only bad thing is that they installed corner braces in the cabinet just such that I have to trim the speaker grille on the bottom in an area that you don't see before I mount it. Not a big deal I guess.

Tim,

Sorry, I don't remember where you got that cabinet. All I remember is the horror story you told me about you wife seeing the UPS guy kick it out of the back of the truck onto the ground as he delivered it. :eek:

Re: Re: Looks great
 

I tried, it's really dark, this is the best I could do:

That is indeed one beautiful set! How close is it to being in working condition?

Eric
Tweed, ON

Tim,
The CT-100 looks very nice. I'm glad you were able to add the original pencil box. Mahogany is the wood of choice and the cabinet shop did a remarkable job of rebuilding and refinishing the cabinet. Is the gold stripe present on the front moulding? It's hard to see in the pix.

A picture tube, some pots on the chassis, some wiring. and a total electronic restoration.....in other words, it might never work :p: . But I'm going to keep improving and improving it, and one day who knows.....but without a picture tube I'm dead in the water.

You have to look at the set as having historical value though IMO. Nobody tries to put the 500 year old Viking ship into the canal to see if it floats, so whether this set works or not, to me I guess it doesn't matter :cool:

Yep, nice and bright as well! I'll get more pics when I get it finished up. The pencil box on there is off a black and white set....not exactly pretty when you open the door, but it'll work just fine.

The mystery is solved. Tim, you got the cabinet from me. I remember getting the set from an old Philco engineer near Philadelphia and wondering if it would ever be useable. He had it to examine the competition for the design of the Philco TV123. Now I know it has a good home.

I am not sure on the original color, but I have seen the set in two distinct lighter and darker mahogany finishes. I always liked the darker.

My CT-100 had base water damage also, but only to the finish. The RCA shop I got mine from years ago was alongside a river that would flood the shop every few years. I refinished mine with some Minwax red mahogany and looks perfect. Now if it would only work.

On that subject, my chassis is out being restored and I still have the sad looking chassis from your set that I saved for parts. I need to remove some parts for my restoration (horiz. centering and focus control for the moment), but I am willing to remove other parts I do not need for any of the AK regulars who might need them for their set. Sorry, no knobs or cosmetics. Not sure yet what I will need to complete mine (read flyback), but let me know what you need and I will keep a list. Try to be specific by part number or chassis circuit identification. I have the manuals to find what you need.

I also have a bunch of UHF strips for the set if you want one. I believe they are tuned for channels in the 30's and 50's at the moment, but can be retuned.

This offer is for postage only and favors to be returned sometime in the future, but I need to wait until I finish my needs. I would also prefer to part it out to as many as possible and not the chassis as a whole. First come, first served.

Analog forever,
Dave A

Just curious, what did the guys at the cabinet place think of restoring a TV versus a 17th-century chair?

Wow, what an incredible job. Kudos to you sir.

Tim,

The cabinet looks great! Even if you don't get the set going, it will still make a great looking fishtank! :eek: Just kidding! Hopefully it won't be long before we see photos of it exercising its "living color" feature! :thmbsp:

Funny you should mention that.....he seemed hesitant when he looked at the set, explaining that it would cost me several hundred dollars to have the work done, and to ask myself if the set was worth the investment. After I explained the relative rarity of the set, he understood why I wanted to get it done.

The trashy CT will be en route to him sometime next month, then I'll have CT100 bookends :)

The hunt begins for knobs....

Don't matter what it cost. That baby is BEE-YOO-TI-FULL !!! Congrats, Tim !! Speaking of babies, how's about a pic of The Nipper in front of the CT-100 ?!? -Sandy G.

Here's the other pic lightened up. Hell, it's now on my desktop at work :)

...

Similar finish
 

Tim,
As I look at your well lighted last posted photo, I see we do have similar color finishes on our CT-100's. When I restored my cabinet several years ago, my first attempt at refinishing, I was trying for the lighter/brighter red mahogany finish that RCA used as a factory finish. I was never able to achieve that. But I do prefer the darker, richer color on both your set and mine. I still plan to have my set professionally refinished as I neglected to use a sealer and to much grain shows through. I want that high gloss factory look. You can see my set on my web page. And if you scroll down you can view the CT-100 assembly line pix that shows the factory cabinet I was refering to.
Steve

http://community.webtv.net/stevetek/StevesCT100