09-02-2012, 12:28 PM
Hi,
In true Blue Peter fashion here is one I did earlier. Normally I start a radio restoration and work through until it is finished. However this Bush SUG 43 is an exception because although the cabinet was successfully restored a few years ago every time I put the chassis on the bench other more urgent jobs crop up preventing me from working on it. This has now been happening for a few years and sure enough a few weeks ago I put the chassis on the bench once again and ended up doing major drain repairs. The drain repairs were carried out in minus four degrees C and today it has just started snowing. Sometimes I despair.
The set was bought through eBay and collected by car from Keithley. The cabinet was showing its age and sported numerous scratches all around near its base together with some bare patches in the finish; the finish was also very faded in parts possibly due to being exposed for a long period in our rare sunshine.
Bush SUG43 as bought.
I’ve never liked or been any good at touching up a finish and for me the easiest way is to completely strip and start from a bare cabinet leading to a full French polish job. For once the weather was beautiful and the plan was to restore the cabinet whilst working in the garage was comfortable for a change. With the garage doors wide open and sunlight flooding in it was an easy job to completely remove the original finish using a freshly sharpened cabinet scraper whilst the cabinet was placed on the garage floor with a blanket under for protection. With the finish removed the cabinet was given a light sanding using 400 grit Garnet abrasive paper working with the grain then dusting off.
The front of the cabinet has nice contrasting veneers so any staining to these was out of the question otherwise the contrast would quickly be lost which I found out on a previous restoration when I used stain. The two side panels and top panel came up very light coloured after the stripping which was worrying but hopefully the Button Shellac would add a bit of colour? Many brush coats of shellac were applied; the front of the cabinet looked good but the sides and top panels looked a mess confirming my previous suspicions. The sides and top needed darkening and a number of options were available; use Garnet Shellac which hides a multitude of sins; spray with toner or strip and stain.
Both sides stripped.
Taking great care not to damage the fresh shellac on the front; the sides and top were once again stripped using the cabinet scraper. Masking was added to the front panel then spirit walnut stain applied. This made a tremendous difference and French polishing could resume. With the many brush applied coats of shellac flatted giving a perfectly matte surface French polishing proper could begin using a traditional polishing rubber to bring up the high gloss or mirror finish. The shellac was allowed to fully dry for a week before deciding whether to leave the finish glossy or to cut it back to matte. The gloss suited it so gloss it remains.
Cabinet French polished.
Many attempts have been made on the electrics with very slow progress. The chassis appeared untouched for many years given the amount of fluff and dust covering everything; this is always a good sign. The loudspeaker was rusty and the output transformer was open circuit on the primary.
Tackling the transformer firstly; this was easy as I own a number of coil winders and chose the manual AVO Douglas winder for the job. The transformer was stripped down to the bobbin and the bobbin mounted onto the winder allowing the number of turns to be counted as the wire was pulled free allowing it to drop onto the workshop floor. The number of turns was noted and the old wire cleared from the floor. I’ve never had any luck at winding open ended coils as they always collapse near completion so now I make a new bobbin fitting Tufnol cheeks or flanges.
New Tufnol bobbin; winding under-way and completed winding.
Winding was straightforward adding connection tails and insulation as required; this simple job took a day to complete; the actual winding doesn’t take long but because of cramped workshop space on the bench setting up the coil winder and counting the turns takes a lot of time.
On mains transformers I only count a secondary known winding then it’s easy to work out the primary. For example if the winding is known to supply 6V and has 24 turns then the turns ratio is 4 primary to 1 secondary. Assembly of the transformer was quick; by trial and error I found that if the last few laminations are proving difficult to slide in then rather than try to add these at the ends they go in much easier if added into the middle; they can be gently tapped home with a hammer ensuring they go in true otherwise the sharp corners will cut into the new winding so care is needed.
The loudspeaker was another easy but dirty job. It was taken into the garage and the basket rubbed down to bright metal using abrasive paper. The speech coil was protected against ingress of dirt and this was followed by spraying on undercoat followed by top coat; auto lacquer was used and the speaker now looks like new. A new black muslin cover will be made for the speaker before re-fitting it into the cabinet.
Stages in painting speaker.
As it is so cold in both the garage and workshop I thought the story to date might be of interest; perhaps someday in the future I’ll actually restore this delightful set into full working order; but I’m not holding my breath.
Kind regards, Col.
In true Blue Peter fashion here is one I did earlier. Normally I start a radio restoration and work through until it is finished. However this Bush SUG 43 is an exception because although the cabinet was successfully restored a few years ago every time I put the chassis on the bench other more urgent jobs crop up preventing me from working on it. This has now been happening for a few years and sure enough a few weeks ago I put the chassis on the bench once again and ended up doing major drain repairs. The drain repairs were carried out in minus four degrees C and today it has just started snowing. Sometimes I despair.
The set was bought through eBay and collected by car from Keithley. The cabinet was showing its age and sported numerous scratches all around near its base together with some bare patches in the finish; the finish was also very faded in parts possibly due to being exposed for a long period in our rare sunshine.
Bush SUG43 as bought.
I’ve never liked or been any good at touching up a finish and for me the easiest way is to completely strip and start from a bare cabinet leading to a full French polish job. For once the weather was beautiful and the plan was to restore the cabinet whilst working in the garage was comfortable for a change. With the garage doors wide open and sunlight flooding in it was an easy job to completely remove the original finish using a freshly sharpened cabinet scraper whilst the cabinet was placed on the garage floor with a blanket under for protection. With the finish removed the cabinet was given a light sanding using 400 grit Garnet abrasive paper working with the grain then dusting off.
The front of the cabinet has nice contrasting veneers so any staining to these was out of the question otherwise the contrast would quickly be lost which I found out on a previous restoration when I used stain. The two side panels and top panel came up very light coloured after the stripping which was worrying but hopefully the Button Shellac would add a bit of colour? Many brush coats of shellac were applied; the front of the cabinet looked good but the sides and top panels looked a mess confirming my previous suspicions. The sides and top needed darkening and a number of options were available; use Garnet Shellac which hides a multitude of sins; spray with toner or strip and stain.
Both sides stripped.
Taking great care not to damage the fresh shellac on the front; the sides and top were once again stripped using the cabinet scraper. Masking was added to the front panel then spirit walnut stain applied. This made a tremendous difference and French polishing could resume. With the many brush applied coats of shellac flatted giving a perfectly matte surface French polishing proper could begin using a traditional polishing rubber to bring up the high gloss or mirror finish. The shellac was allowed to fully dry for a week before deciding whether to leave the finish glossy or to cut it back to matte. The gloss suited it so gloss it remains.
Cabinet French polished.
Many attempts have been made on the electrics with very slow progress. The chassis appeared untouched for many years given the amount of fluff and dust covering everything; this is always a good sign. The loudspeaker was rusty and the output transformer was open circuit on the primary.
Tackling the transformer firstly; this was easy as I own a number of coil winders and chose the manual AVO Douglas winder for the job. The transformer was stripped down to the bobbin and the bobbin mounted onto the winder allowing the number of turns to be counted as the wire was pulled free allowing it to drop onto the workshop floor. The number of turns was noted and the old wire cleared from the floor. I’ve never had any luck at winding open ended coils as they always collapse near completion so now I make a new bobbin fitting Tufnol cheeks or flanges.
New Tufnol bobbin; winding under-way and completed winding.
Winding was straightforward adding connection tails and insulation as required; this simple job took a day to complete; the actual winding doesn’t take long but because of cramped workshop space on the bench setting up the coil winder and counting the turns takes a lot of time.
On mains transformers I only count a secondary known winding then it’s easy to work out the primary. For example if the winding is known to supply 6V and has 24 turns then the turns ratio is 4 primary to 1 secondary. Assembly of the transformer was quick; by trial and error I found that if the last few laminations are proving difficult to slide in then rather than try to add these at the ends they go in much easier if added into the middle; they can be gently tapped home with a hammer ensuring they go in true otherwise the sharp corners will cut into the new winding so care is needed.
The loudspeaker was another easy but dirty job. It was taken into the garage and the basket rubbed down to bright metal using abrasive paper. The speech coil was protected against ingress of dirt and this was followed by spraying on undercoat followed by top coat; auto lacquer was used and the speaker now looks like new. A new black muslin cover will be made for the speaker before re-fitting it into the cabinet.
Stages in painting speaker.
As it is so cold in both the garage and workshop I thought the story to date might be of interest; perhaps someday in the future I’ll actually restore this delightful set into full working order; but I’m not holding my breath.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
