You might like this video /watch?v=n_m4X31J3Kc It's pretty cool. They talk about Philco and then walk you through the making of an early (1929 IIRC) radio. At one point during the film, they show a radio chassis suspended between two chairs and then a man gets up on it and jumps up and down on it as a demonstration of how strong it is. At another point, they demonstrate a capacitor machine that looks like it has toilet paper rolls on it. They don't demonstrate it, but they show the coil winding machines. Philco made most of the radio. They made the components including the tuner right in the same factory. They even built the cabinets. They demonstrate the making of the decorative legs of a radio on the automatic lathe that cuts the whole thing at once in a few seconds. The footage is from a brand new factory they had just built, so it was the state of the art of the time.
I was thinking of using Locktite shoe glue for those rubber snubbers. Glue the front ones to the metal chassis, and if you have to remove them, a razor blade scraper would work. More robust than RTV, and harder rubber.
Many thanks for this very interesting series of the Philco 90 restoration! Just one thing I noticed is, that you don't change the original wires going to the outer grid connections to the tubes. Like the wire from the IF tank to the grid connection of the 24 tube at the left side of the chassis. When I restore radios from the 1930's this is one of the very first things I do, the complete replacement of all the wires going to the outer grid connections from tubes. When measuring the normal DC resistance of these cables, there might be everything ok. But the copper material in these old wires almost always do have some corrosion and this can be quite a bit of resistance for high RF freqencies! Some of these old wires do already have verdigris inside. Nowadays there are fortunately some new cloth coverd wires available, and with these very beautyful restorations can be made. It might be beneficial to replace all the old wires in radio circuits where RF is going through. I have seen in some cases a huge improvement of performance and sensibility of such old radio sets with replaced wires. Have fun and best regards from Switzerland, bluearcturus
Put a twelve-inch piece of 1/4" or 5/16" brass or aluminum tubing over the tuner shaft and put it through the hole while the chassis is only part-way in. Moving the chassis forward will then align it with the holes without having to adjust up/down and left/right, allowing you to concentrate on not dislocating the resilient isolation bushings.
Interesting idea, but there's the problem. The chassis can't slide forward or it will get hung up on the rubber washers. It needs to come in at an angle which is awkward because it's both heavy and delicate. There is also very little wiggle room.
@@bandersentv: Right. You still have to lift it and bring it in at an angle, but you don't have to guide the shafts through the holes - the tubing does that.
Maybe going to the hardware store and get some sheet cork might be an option NEXT TIME . It gives a little and may just be the correct thickness. It can be cut to fit the holes on the bottom and doubled up if need be and you could glue it to the chassis with clear Gorilla glue when satisfied with the process. The glue should work for the rubber feet too. Funny I have jars of screws and only could find one or two that is right sometimes.
Like all other radios of this era the dial is amber plastic. I tend to believe that originally these were more white. As we have no original dial plate that was stored away from polluted air to cause it it age to an amber color. And reproduces of dial plates today make these yellow because the only thing they have to compare to are old aged dials. What do any of the viewers believe? Consider vintage computers with yellow plastic cases. One day when all of these are gone, and people that remember them when new, will think they were produced in that color.
5:38 To manufacture that multi section variable cap in 2021/22..... I have no doubt many CNC fabs would love to do. But how many thousand dollars these days? Yes, I know these days it obsolete, direct synthesis and all the modern single chip mumbo jumbo. But what if?
Great job, I know it had it's moments. Tricky job getting the chassis into the cabinet. Was wondering if it would've helped to glue the cushions to the chassis corners just enough to hold them in place?
I have a question, i have heard in some videos that there is some virus or disease in old radios do you know if this is true or if it affects European radios? I’m am talking about 50s radios, the reason I wonder is because in my bedroom I have around 12 radios most from the 50s and I don’t know if it’s good to sleep in the same room. If you know please respond.
No, it's not true. I've never heard anything like that. The only thing I can possibly think of is that a few radio models had some asbestos heat shielding in them. Even in the very unlikely case one of your radios has some asbestos, it doesn't really pose any hazard unless you rip it out, shred it up and breath it in.
Maybe you mean “silver mica disease”? Not transmissible to humans (no vaccine needed), but it can make your radio pretty ill. I don’t know about European radios, but in the 50’s when most U.S. radio manufacturers changed from capacitive tuned IF coils to inductive tuned ones, they used fixed value capacitors constructed with a sandwich of sheets of mica, and silver coated metal. Eventually the silver tarnishes, and can randomly form conductive silver oxide bridges that change the values of those fixed capacitors, altering the performance of the radio. I believe Mr. Anderson has covered this, along with several other RUclipsrs, and how one can repair this issue.
Antique radios do contain some organic materials like wood, cloth or cartoon. And these organic materials can have mold (fungus) infection, if the item has been stored for a long period in a place with lot of humidity. But this is not a particular problem of radios, any object with organic materials can have this issue. If you are not sure if you have this problem with your own radios, go online fur further information. A first typical sign would be when a object has a certain smell, like the smell in a wet cellar. Then it's advisable to search for professional help an treatment. But the topic about the "silver mica disease" is just a type of metal oxidation or detoriation and is no harmful to humans. Best regards from Switzerland, bluearcturus
Rubber cement or Vaseline to hold them in. If they were traditional torque stand-off's there would be a metal sleeve that keeps from over tightening the insulators around the chassis, as well as under the capacitor gang. Sensor -Safe black RTV will work as well, though you might need to lay the radio on it's' front or side on a big fluffy pillow after the rubber insulators set in place, then slide in place, and bolt down evenly until the shafts are even all around. Cannot wait to see the original speaker installed and part 12, 13, 14...89, 101...hee hee hee...Just kidding!
LOL I've committed to the next installment being the last. I tightened the bolts down until there was about 1/16" of space remaining. Just enough to give it a little cushion.
You can't get it into the cabinet. The added height causes the control shafts to hit the front of the cabinet before the mounts get to the recessed cutouts. I suppose if one were to extend the cutouts a couple inches towards the back of the cabinet it would work.
Enjoyed the series. Bob. Was right there with u all the way.
Really enjoyed the series Bob, Thank you! Can't wait to see the speaker finished!
You and me both!
Thank you for the series. Can’t wait to see spin upon the coil, and to listen to the sound. Thanks again. Dean
Excellent series. Makes me want to attack my own projects! 😄
Excellent series!
That tuner cap is a work of art. bullet proof
The last minute explains a lot. I thought I missed an episode or something.
You might like this video
/watch?v=n_m4X31J3Kc
It's pretty cool. They talk about Philco and then walk you through the making of an early (1929 IIRC) radio. At one point during the film, they show a radio chassis suspended between two chairs and then a man gets up on it and jumps up and down on it as a demonstration of how strong it is. At another point, they demonstrate a capacitor machine that looks like it has toilet paper rolls on it. They don't demonstrate it, but they show the coil winding machines.
Philco made most of the radio. They made the components including the tuner right in the same factory. They even built the cabinets. They demonstrate the making of the decorative legs of a radio on the automatic lathe that cuts the whole thing at once in a few seconds.
The footage is from a brand new factory they had just built, so it was the state of the art of the time.
Yep, I've seen that a few times. Seems to be the only video of the old Philco. I'd be cool to see one from the 30s
I was thinking of using Locktite shoe glue for those rubber snubbers. Glue the front ones to the metal chassis, and if you have to remove them, a razor blade scraper would work. More robust than RTV, and harder rubber.
Good idea. Somehow I was fixated on putting them in the cabinet first. I also have some GC rubber to metal cement that works well.
Many thanks for this very interesting series of the Philco 90 restoration! Just one thing I noticed is, that you don't change the original wires going to the outer grid connections to the tubes. Like the wire from the IF tank to the grid connection of the 24 tube at the left side of the chassis. When I restore radios from the 1930's this is one of the very first things I do, the complete replacement of all the wires going to the outer grid connections from tubes. When measuring the normal DC resistance of these cables, there might be everything ok. But the copper material in these old wires almost always do have some corrosion and this can be quite a bit of resistance for high RF freqencies! Some of these old wires do already have verdigris inside. Nowadays there are fortunately some new cloth coverd wires available, and with these very beautyful restorations can be made. It might be beneficial to replace all the old wires in radio circuits where RF is going through. I have seen in some cases a huge improvement of performance and sensibility of such old radio sets with replaced wires. Have fun and best regards from Switzerland, bluearcturus
wow on the rf wire resistance. I might try this.
Put a twelve-inch piece of 1/4" or 5/16" brass or aluminum tubing over the tuner shaft and put it through the hole while the chassis is only part-way in. Moving the chassis forward will then align it with the holes without having to adjust up/down and left/right, allowing you to concentrate on not dislocating the resilient isolation bushings.
Interesting idea, but there's the problem. The chassis can't slide forward or it will get hung up on the rubber washers. It needs to come in at an angle which is awkward because it's both heavy and delicate. There is also very little wiggle room.
@@bandersentv: Right. You still have to lift it and bring it in at an angle, but you don't have to guide the shafts through the holes - the tubing does that.
Maybe going to the hardware store and get some sheet cork might be an option NEXT TIME .
It gives a little and may just be the correct thickness. It can be cut to fit the holes on the bottom and doubled up if need
be and you could glue it to the chassis with clear Gorilla glue when satisfied with the process. The glue should work for
the rubber feet too. Funny I have jars of screws and only could find one or two that is right sometimes.
Now that Renovated Radios is gone, experimentation is definitely in order. I also have some rubber sheet stock, but boy is it hard to cut or drill.
Like all other radios of this era the dial is amber plastic. I tend to believe that originally these were more white. As we have no original dial plate that was stored away from polluted air to cause it it age to an amber color. And reproduces of dial plates today make these yellow because the only thing they have to compare to are old aged dials.
What do any of the viewers believe?
Consider vintage computers with yellow plastic cases. One day when all of these are gone, and people that remember them when new, will think they were produced in that color.
5:38 To manufacture that multi section variable cap in 2021/22.....
I have no doubt many CNC fabs would love to do. But how many thousand dollars these days?
Yes, I know these days it obsolete, direct synthesis and all the modern single chip mumbo jumbo.
But what if?
I bet that was the most expensive part in the radio. I'd be cool to see how they were made.
Great job, I know it had it's moments. Tricky job getting the chassis into the cabinet. Was wondering if it would've helped to glue the cushions to the chassis corners just enough to hold them in place?
Yes, very likely. I also just discovered something that may shed light on how they did it originally. There will be a short follow up video soon.
Before the 6Q7 would have been the 75, 6 pin base, then the 6B6 octal then the 6Q7.
Ah yes, I forgot about the 75 and never heard of a 6B6. Thank you for the information.
I have a question, i have heard in some videos that there is some virus or disease in old radios do you know if this is true or if it affects European radios? I’m am talking about 50s radios, the reason I wonder is because in my bedroom I have around 12 radios most from the 50s and I don’t know if it’s good to sleep in the same room. If you know please respond.
No, it's not true. I've never heard anything like that. The only thing I can possibly think of is that a few radio models had some asbestos heat shielding in them. Even in the very unlikely case one of your radios has some asbestos, it doesn't really pose any hazard unless you rip it out, shred it up and breath it in.
Maybe you mean “silver mica disease”?
Not transmissible to humans (no vaccine needed), but it can make your radio pretty ill.
I don’t know about European radios, but in the 50’s when most U.S. radio manufacturers changed from capacitive tuned IF coils to inductive tuned ones, they used fixed value capacitors constructed with a sandwich of sheets of mica, and silver coated metal. Eventually the silver tarnishes, and can randomly form conductive silver oxide bridges that change the values of those fixed capacitors, altering the performance of the radio.
I believe Mr. Anderson has covered this, along with several other RUclipsrs, and how one can repair this issue.
Antique radios do contain some organic materials like wood, cloth or cartoon. And these organic materials can have mold (fungus) infection, if the item has been stored for a long period in a place with lot of humidity. But this is not a particular problem of radios, any object with organic materials can have this issue. If you are not sure if you have this problem with your own radios, go online fur further information. A first typical sign would be when a object has a certain smell, like the smell in a wet cellar. Then it's advisable to search for professional help an treatment. But the topic about the "silver mica disease" is just a type of metal oxidation or detoriation and is no harmful to humans. Best regards from Switzerland, bluearcturus
@@erikj.2066 They talked about mica disease but now I know I doesn’t effect humans
Rubber cement or Vaseline to hold them in. If they were traditional torque stand-off's there would be a metal sleeve that keeps from over tightening the insulators around the chassis, as well as under the capacitor gang. Sensor -Safe black RTV will work as well, though you might need to lay the radio on it's' front or side on a big fluffy pillow after the rubber insulators set in place, then slide in place, and bolt down evenly until the shafts are even all around.
Cannot wait to see the original speaker installed and part 12, 13, 14...89, 101...hee hee hee...Just kidding!
LOL I've committed to the next installment being the last. I tightened the bolts down until there was about 1/16" of space remaining. Just enough to give it a little cushion.
How did you end up terminating the wall plug?
I left it as I showed in the previous installment. Just the cord through the plug and an underwriters knot.
Why not just glue the rubber mounts to the chassis
You can't get it into the cabinet. The added height causes the control shafts to hit the front of the cabinet before the mounts get to the recessed cutouts. I suppose if one were to extend the cutouts a couple inches towards the back of the cabinet it would work.