Bakelite cabinet grille rib rebuild

[Aerodyne]

You may be interested to see my latest video upload on U Tube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff6DlppOMpc

It shows the replacement of a missing section of loudspeaker grille on the cabinet of a 1946 Major Maestro. The set itself was the subject of an article in Radio Bygones quite a few years ago now.
Tony

[pwdrive]

An excellant and proffesional post Tony, your methods employed would take some beating.

Lawrence.

[pwdrive]

Hello again Tony, I meant to ask how or what you need to make a video like yours to post on utube, specifically how do you get the writing (the descriptions) on the video. I know zilch about video cameras.

Lawrence.

[Yorkie]

Excellent in every respect Tony - both the repair itself, and the video. Well illustrated, a personal introduction, neat captions, great camera work, and background music that stays in the background. What more can one say? At the NVCF there was a circular Ekco - I forget which model - but it had a Bakelite 'slat' missing from the speaker grille, and was on offer at about half the price for an undamaged set. Perfectly capable of being repaired with Milliput and a metal armature, but when we left at about 2pm, it remained unsold and with little interest. Maybe if your latest youtube video had been widely seen before the NVCF, the set would have been snapped up as a bargain! I was tempted, but just don't have any more space for larger sets, and have several waiting attention.

Thanks for posting the video Tony.

[Mark R]

Tony

yet again a brilliant contribution and fix.

cheers Mark

[Radio Fixer]

Came out very well Tony... and an excellent presentation.

I have used Plas-T-Pare from the US which bonds well to Bakelite and seems to have the same expansion. No hair cracks have appeared in the spray paint over the years... this can happen with some materials.

Gary

[Aerodyne]

Lawrence, I use Windows Live Movie Maker. I believe it is available from Microsoft as a free download. Mine came with my copy of Windows 7. A very simple program to use - intuitive and easily learnt. The music is from a 'free music' non-copyright source found on the web. It was written for people like me who wish to make straightforward videos rather than films. By the way I do not own a video camera - I used one of my digital stills cameras (actually a Panasonic Lumix DX-FS18). Most digital cameras have a limited movie capability these days.
David, I'm pleased you think the video worth watching. A pity you didn't buy the Ekco - I'd have bought it from you!
Thanks, Mark. All compliments appreciated!
Gary, I've never seen or used Plas-T-Pare but from what you say it does indeed seem similar to Milliput. As for hair cracks, I always avoid the over-use of cellulose filler paste as used on car bodies - the stuff shrinks back after some weeks or months to reveal delves that once were filled level. It can successfully be used very sparingly to smooth out the joins between two-part resin infills and the original Bakelite, though, as long as the layer is paper thin.
Thanks to all for the positive comments.
Tony

[pwdrive]

Thanks Tony.

Lawrence.

[Robert Darwent]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for posting that very informative video. I've a few such sets with broken bakelite spars that require a similar rebuild to you Major Maestro. As always your instructional clips are produced to a very high standard and do you great credit. Excellent work!

The only set I've tackled with a similar problem was an Ekco AD75 that had very much seen better days;

   

Because the spars were missing entirely, I was able to carefully notch out what remained and use strips of balsa wood as replacements. Once shaped and fitted, the balsa was coated with a mix of dilute PVA and superglue (cyanoacrylate) which considerably strengthens and hardens the wood;

       

I colour matched the spars with tubes of acrylic paint, using black, red and yellow to achieve an appropriate shade of brown;

       

The final image shows the completed set. By the way, the dial and tuning pointer are also reproduction replacements;

   

Regards

[Andrewausfa]

Super work Tony and a really excellent use of the paint brush I used to use Milliput an awful lot in my model-making. One method we used to use which is to make sheets from it the same as making pastry. You need something you can use as rolling pin and then sprinkle talc on the flattened ball of Milliput. Obviously the talc stops the rolling pin from sticking. It's quite easy to create really very thin sheets indeed, the results of which would be used to make webbing and shoulder straps for scale military figures.

Andrew