Category: Antique Radios

so it’s been a little while since I posted anything, but it’s been slow going. Using the citrus gel stripper that was recommended by the others in the facebook group, I took what seemed many layers of not only varnish, but also 75 years of dirt and grime. It took several applications, and several days …

So, after reading how the real experts do restoration (see previous post on this radio), I decided to pick up some citrus stripping gel to give it a shot. I also picked up a stripping tool, which is a step above a putty knife, but seemed well suited for the job, and some steel wool, …

So, the radio I bought was obviously not in the greatest shape, though I have seen some amazing restoration work by others on far more damaged radios. This one was primarily dirty, and had the normal scratches and paint splatters for a 76 year old radio. Given my original stated goal of making this unit …

There’s nothing really remarkable about replacing wires, except for the pile of insulation bits on the bench under the radio. It’s somewhat impressive when you consider those bits of insulation are 75+ years old. I have been slowly threading wires through and replacing them one at a time. It does become a bit of an …

Prior to receiving the tubes, I had gotten the electrolytics in, and replaced all of the capacitors under the chassis except for one of the square molded “Solar” brand mica capacitors (the only one in the radio). That didn’t change operation, except for reducing the hum slightly. Darn. I was not relegated to hoping it …

OK, so I explained why I was doing this… let’s face it, the challenge is also interesting. I started by pulling the chassis out of the radio, and wiping off 50 or so years of dust and grime. I knew the cord would need to be replaced, since someone had cut off or pulled off …

So I’ve gone from high tech digital TDMA type stuff back to a wooden box with high voltages and glowing tubes. During a visit to my Mom’s cousin’s house, I noted a wood radio on a shelf – a very well kept example of a post-war radio, and one I had never seen (or noticed …