20-05-2012, 06:33 PM
I guess the padded leathercloth must have seemed very luxurious in the day - few other manufacturers did it. Dynatron did for a few of their sets, although they saw themselves as Hacker's competitors after the Hacker brothers left in 1959 to go it alone.
Not all early Hackers were padded, and it stopped completely when they started using teak sides in the 1970s - the Sovereign II, Herald III and VHF Herald were the last ones to be padded. Often, the Rexine appears to have shrunk back, so the lack of foam isn't always a big deal - indeed sometimes it's hard to believe that some sets were ever padded. To be fair, Joe's looks a bit like that in the photo
Very occasionally you come across one where the original padding is still doing its job, and very nice they are too - also this helps you be sure about what thickness and firmness of foam you need to restore the sets with.
I bought a load of 3mm Scrim Foam from Woolies Trim, and it's perfect for the job. Repadding is not too bad a job - just a bit time-consuming, but personally I find it really satisfying. It's relatively easy on Joe's set because the cabinet is birch plywood. Later sets used a crude particle board of some description, and the glue holding the Rexine is often stronger than the glue that holds the large flakes together.
My usual tips include spending a lot of time with the corners, as these need to be perfect. I leave the top edge intact, as any imperfections in the white "piping" are really shown up against the control panel at the top. Oh, and the waste from the middle of the front foam is perfect for repadding the front of an Autocrat
Joe, the Rexine is cloth-backed, not paper, so you'd be very unlucky indeed to tear it. I'm very happy to send you enough scrim foam to do the job - I have a stupidly large stock here (it was very cheap). Based on how well you did that DAC90 recently, I reckon you'd do a superb job - perhaps try the Autocrat first to gain confidence. So, no excuses
Not all early Hackers were padded, and it stopped completely when they started using teak sides in the 1970s - the Sovereign II, Herald III and VHF Herald were the last ones to be padded. Often, the Rexine appears to have shrunk back, so the lack of foam isn't always a big deal - indeed sometimes it's hard to believe that some sets were ever padded. To be fair, Joe's looks a bit like that in the photo
Very occasionally you come across one where the original padding is still doing its job, and very nice they are too - also this helps you be sure about what thickness and firmness of foam you need to restore the sets with.
I bought a load of 3mm Scrim Foam from Woolies Trim, and it's perfect for the job. Repadding is not too bad a job - just a bit time-consuming, but personally I find it really satisfying. It's relatively easy on Joe's set because the cabinet is birch plywood. Later sets used a crude particle board of some description, and the glue holding the Rexine is often stronger than the glue that holds the large flakes together.
My usual tips include spending a lot of time with the corners, as these need to be perfect. I leave the top edge intact, as any imperfections in the white "piping" are really shown up against the control panel at the top. Oh, and the waste from the middle of the front foam is perfect for repadding the front of an Autocrat
Joe, the Rexine is cloth-backed, not paper, so you'd be very unlucky indeed to tear it. I'm very happy to send you enough scrim foam to do the job - I have a stupidly large stock here (it was very cheap). Based on how well you did that DAC90 recently, I reckon you'd do a superb job - perhaps try the Autocrat first to gain confidence. So, no excuses
