Winter BVWS Bulletin/DVD!

[Yorkie]

I think Gerry made the cabinets the only way that you could do - with the front turned from thick MDF, and the 'cylinder' made from layers of 3-ply, with the outer plies running back to front for maximum flexibility. The half moon shaped cut outs in the fronts would have been done by a router on a jig. In some respects, to anyone with a woodturning lathe and the skills to go with it, a circular Ecko cabinet would be easier to make than a square veneered cabinet. It wouldn't have been the cabinet that would stump me, but sourcing of the components for the chassis, and the knobs and dials me though it wouldn't have been a big deal to Gerry, and the results of his efforts prove.

To some extent, Gerry's 'Wells Coated' round Ekcos have rather eclipsed his other efforts, the results of which are no less impressive. At first glance, the five radios on the front  cover all look like the genuine articles, but not so - they were all created by Gerry - the green one, bottom left of the front cover is especially impressive.  I think what impressed me as much as anything on the DVD was the high quality of finish of the cabinets, which were indiscernible from genuine Bakelite cabinets.

I only had the privilege of meeting Gerry once - along with my younger son we spent a most enjoyable morning there about ten years ago. He had a disarming knack of appearing to be totally normal, yet making you feel that somehow, you were a bit eccentric for not having as many sheds full of radios as he had! I loved the way that every shed or room to Gerry was a 'department'. When we were there, he took us into the 'valve making' department, where he was busy fashioning valves - making the electrodes, glass blowing etc.  (As you do!).

What a guy!