Acquired a 1950 Philco 50-701
 

I finally popped for one of these classic compact 7" sets that started with the Motorola VT-71 in late '47. I believe these were the last of them. They came in brown and black bakelite. This one is black. What you see is about 10 hours of cosmetic work. Next is having my friend restore the chassis. The HV picture fade will be addressed. These are very hard to find in any condition. There is also a wood version that's a bit plainer, but also a classic. These are nice quality in and out.

Wow, impressive detailing job! :thmbsp:

Thanks Kevin. You won't believe the amount of hours of work it was. It's not a quickie Saturday afternoon job! I just hope there's no surprises with the chassis resto. It looks original and in good condition. Fortunately my repairman has many years of experience with vintage TV's.

Kewl ! What did you use to polish the cabinet ? Looks LOVERLY... I have a 7" Bakelite Admiral, ugly dk brown Bakelite cabinet, washed in in the shower-Hey, it was Sat'day nite, after all- let 'er dry over night, then set to w/white polishing compound. Not too happy, it looked like Ass after I got done, but, I'd tried this B4... Next, I went over it w/Meguier's Carnauba wax once.. Much better. Then I did it again a second time, & THAT did the trick. Slick as could be. Didn't really "Shine" as much as it GLOWED.. That's been a good 10 years, & it STILL looks Wunderbar ! Used the TV cabinet polishers mounted on the ends of my arms to do it with-Maybe THAT'S what made mine look so Mah-vellous...(Grin) Still wish some outfit in China would run off a special run of 7JP4s for us....I Just have the one Admiral, but I could likely be coerced into squirrellin' away a spare or 2 just for Why Nots ?

Thank you. My procedure is Novus 3, 2, and then Maguires Plast-X for car headlights. If the bakelite is faded, you can't beat Kiwi polish. I also like to finish with a mist of Pledge polish and a fast wipe with cheese cloth. If I get streaks, I wipe the set down after with a damp clean towel and it evens it all out. The biggest trick is a lot of elbow-grease! You have to do a lot of hand buffing to get a nice shine.

If needed, at what point do you apply the Kiwi? Before, in between, or after the 3 others?

With the Kiwi polish you're adding color, so that should be the last step. I would apply and then wait a while until it's completely dry and then buff it out. You can also try the Kiwi buffing cream too which comes in brown, black, and neutral (cream-color). The stuff works amazing on Tolex too.

I would add as a word of caution-Not that anyone HERE doesn't know this anyway- ALWAYS try Rubbing & polishing compounds of any/every sort on either an "Inside" or "Bottom" inconspicuous patch to check 'em on.. I spose you could use a powered polisher on a Bakelite cabinet, but I dunno if I'd wanna do that.. A 3/4 worn out "Holey, Holey, Holey" T-shirt I think would be yr best bet... And yeah, polishin' one of them cute l'il Admiral 19A117" sets IS pretty much an all day job/ordeal-if done RIGHT. An' my arms shoulders wore my butt out over it-But I sure made that little Admiral look better than it had since prolly 1948 or so..

Yes, I would recommend hand polishing. Sometimes you get a burn with a power wheel or you damage decals. It just takes a second with them to do damage, especially a Dremel tool. There are times when the bakelite surface is so faded that you can't get much of a shine back. In that case a gloss lacquer spray is needed.

It's a well-known fact that the HV fade is caused by the air-core HV coil.
Someone out there was making a solid state substitute for the transformer that just plugs into the 6V6 HV OSC socket. :scratch2:

I would get one of them if I could find one. My repairman is pretty determined to make this one play well. He says he's got plan A, then B, then C....
I believe a muffin fan will do the trick. I did it with my Hallicrafters 505 and it virtually eliminated the fade problem. Why not have the chassis run cool anyway?! It'll be interesting to see how this one will play. It'll soon be on the bench.

Like this?

http://www.myvintagetv.com/philco_hv.htm

jr