09-02-2014, 12:36 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-02-2014, 12:42 PM by Radio Fixer.)
For old radios too many were kept. Easy to put up in the loft. If most of them had been dumped then the remainder might be worth something.
Restored top of the range sets will fetch enough to cover most parts costs but not time of course. But I expect nothing for that as that's the hobby.
I disagree with the comparison to the roman statue Lawrence and the patina thing. Apart from one radio that I have ever had most were abused and that's not patina. They had been dragged around for years and then to swaps and in and out of vans. All were damaged: missing veneer, gouges, split feet, holes in the side and no worm (I wont buy any with that) so nothing for it but to restore the cabinets. And working well may ensure them a future. Of course its often easier to find a good Bakelite cabinet that needs nothing more than polishing which is why some prefer them as a project. Trouble is most were poor performers even when they left the factory.
The one good wooden radio, and a top performer, did have patina: the odd scratch or finger marks around the knobs but that's all. It was simply polished not that it needed it as someone must have kept it in the parlour and been doing that for years. Maybe from new back in the mid 30's.
Gary
Restored top of the range sets will fetch enough to cover most parts costs but not time of course. But I expect nothing for that as that's the hobby.
I disagree with the comparison to the roman statue Lawrence and the patina thing. Apart from one radio that I have ever had most were abused and that's not patina. They had been dragged around for years and then to swaps and in and out of vans. All were damaged: missing veneer, gouges, split feet, holes in the side and no worm (I wont buy any with that) so nothing for it but to restore the cabinets. And working well may ensure them a future. Of course its often easier to find a good Bakelite cabinet that needs nothing more than polishing which is why some prefer them as a project. Trouble is most were poor performers even when they left the factory.
The one good wooden radio, and a top performer, did have patina: the odd scratch or finger marks around the knobs but that's all. It was simply polished not that it needed it as someone must have kept it in the parlour and been doing that for years. Maybe from new back in the mid 30's.
Gary
