|
Cool project! I agree you shouldn't feel bad about hacking up old radios. Most of them just sit around broken collecting dust. Yours looks beat but I bet you could get it looking nice again. You could probably make new knobs using the one you have to create a mold and use some kind of resin to clone it. It's a shame that front left speaker bar piece is missing because it's a great art deco feature. I don't know how you would replicate that though unless you are amazing at woodworking. I like the black and stainless idea but If you wanted to try to restore the veneer check out this video for some tips https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff12YsoYYVw A few years ago I bought a 1946 Philco Hippo from eBay with the intention of fully restoring it. Once I got into the chassis I realized I was in way over my head. It needed new caps because two of them were blown and they were all 70 years old, at least one of the tubes was bad and the cardboard speaker was so torn that it basically needs to be reconstructed from scratch. Meanwhile it was coated in grime and had a very dull finish. So I gave up on the chassis and retro moded it into something useful. I spent hours hand polishing the bakelite and then I picked up a broken satellite boombox from a thrift-store for $4 and got a cheap amp from amazon. I made a mount for everything using a piece of plywood, an aluminum angel, some foam board and a bunch of JB weld. I even wired up an led running off a 9v battery to reproduce that warm glow from the dial. Now I plug my phone into it and listen to the rolling stones or whatever is on internet radio. Still have the broken chassis that *someday* might get restored but for now at least I can enjoy it. The base is held onto the case with screws, it's all easily reversible. The thing sounds pretty good too considering how much of a hack job it is.  
Huggable Bear King fucked around with this message at 05:32 on Dec 2, 2016 |
#
¿
Dec 2, 2016 05:19
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 4, 2024 22:37 |
|
|
Trabant posted:Oh hell yes Bakelite Trabant posted:Now I'm thinking that I could: I like how this is shaping up, especially seeing it stripped down. Have you thought about putting a full equalizer in that large space? Another idea for the logo might be to etch it into the metal plate instead of engraving it. I guess it depends if you want to learn DIY metal etching or outsource it. Keep going dude, this looks like it's going to be awesome when it's done! (Here's a random video on metal etching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79r7iX1Qm1M )
|
|
#
¿
Dec 16, 2016 09:22
|
|
I have a completely irrational love for that stuff. And great pick for the amp -- same exact model I used in one of my earlier efforts. It really pumps out a lot of sound given how affordable/small it is.