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Howdy!
Thanks for all the great advice! Especially the stuff about the speaker. The supplier for the replacement cones is great!
Finally started working on the set in earnest. Here's a photo of the cabinet after the cleaning with GOJO, and treatment with Howards "Mahogany" finish restorer and several applications of Howards "Feed n' Wax". I didn't want to do a complete strip and refinish, but it looked pretty ugly and "dried out" before, so I didn't know what I was going to be able to "get away with". Turned out pretty presentable, I think, without losing it's "oldie" charm.
Interesting to me was finding my grandparent's telephone number from the 1950's, starting with the "TR" exchange, written on the cover to the HV section. (As in "TRinity5-2437") Put there to ID the set while in the repair shop, my guess. I remember when I was little my grandmother was on a party line, and the only reason she got a "private" line was because, over the years, everyone else on the party line got private numbers! She was the only one still on the party line for years, getting the cheaper rate, until sometime in the late 1970's the phone company discontinued party lines and started charging her for a private line.
I was worried that the tuner might have a stripped/broken gear, since the knob would turn about a third each way and then bind. I knew to never force it, but we've had kids in the house over the last 20 years, and THEY didn't always know not to force it. Good news was the only reason it was binding was because the string had broken and was stuck in the gear teeth in a couple spots, causing the bind. I'd read about the dreaded "fiber gear", but it looks like the gears in my tuner are all metal.
Everyone around here who's looked at the underside of the chassis has found it pretty intimidating. The biggest recap I've done is on an RCA 99K console radio (1938), and it turned out good. This appears to be about twice that, so if I think of it that way, it's not so scary looking!
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