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Thalia & Melpomene

11/17/2020

6 Comments

 
As mentioned previously, Bill Reid has donated  the remainder of his collection to the museum. I did not count, but it was several hundred radios in total. Bill's main interests were boat-anchors/amateur gear and radios produced by the Crosley  company, mostly from the 1930's and 1940's. (more on the big receivers later).

So when I was not playing fireman (see post below), after the soot cleared from the air, I was able to work on a few of the cabinets. I had started with the big 8, 9, and 10 tube radios first. When I came to the 5-tube radios that Crosley called Fivers  I would normally have set them aside, possibly offering them for sale as projects, but here was an almost complete collection. I saw it as a case of the total being greater than the sum of the parts, not to mention one of the fivers being a 25 Hz mains unit.
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These radios were all restored as a group. The cabinets were finished with nitrocellulose lacquer that had been slightly modified for less gloss -  between gloss and semi-gloss. All of the cabinet had been refinished previously and several were missing parts, mainly base molding, which I reproduced with my table router.
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The chassis had also been worked-on. Some of them did function and a few, particularly the 25 Hz mains unit (center) did not. Check out the size of that 25 Hz transformer! This thing is heavy and the chassis weight might have tested the rather simple cabinets.

The later chassis (typically 517 model) is on the left and a 515 is on the far right. The 25 Hz unit is marked 555-5. YES(!) Crosly model designation can be confusing. On the web you can find examples of the model 555 and a console model 5555 but don't confuse either with this one (555-5).
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The later 517 chassis
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Above : Top Left: 515 restored, Top Rt. 516 restored, Bottom Left: 555-5 Bottom Rt. 517 As Found
The chassis had many parts missing/replaced. So I had only a few of the correct by part #, original capacitors to rebuild. My stock ran out after the first couple of restorations so I had to improvise. I did use the correct brands - Crosley was not picky, Solar, Sprague, CD and Aerovox are a few of the original paper caps that can be found with the Crosley W-XXXXX part numbers printed on the caps. The other issue is that Crosley was fond of multi-section paper caps. These are seldom seen in other manufacture's units. Basically, you have a paper tube with 2 caps in it. This assembly has a lead exiting the center of the tube which often is soldered to a mounting clamp. This center lead is often connected to ground.
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By now you are probably wondering what this has to do with Greek Muses.

Thalia is the Muse of comedy and Melpomene is the Muse of tragedy. They are often seen pictured together in the theater - one smiling face and one with a frown.

Still unclear? Well, remember when I brought you this? https://www.russoldradios.com/blog/heres-looking-at-you-hes-looking-at-you
Too many lacquer fumes, some say.

​Had I not restored these as a group I probably would not have noticed - 

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I probably would have never noticed that the later 517 looks less-happy than the early model.

Note the differences in that one uses a bezel and one doesn't. More to the point, the two router cuts on the right and left of the grill are different. The shorter ones seem to replicate a sad face while the longer ones make the cabinet look happy.

In trying to find original examples of these cabinets I noted that some seemed to have gold paint in the groves rather than black. So I did one each way.

​Too many fumes? Maybe.
6 Comments
Arran
11/18/2020 05:06:19 pm

It's always frustrating when someone strips, and refinishes, a cabinet before you do. You have to play the detective, and either try to find a photo of an original example, even one with a bad finish, or try to interpret what the colours may have been from vintage promotional literature, usually B&W. This is why I have been accumulating a collection of photos of original examples of sets I either own, or intend to own, as a reference. With one of my recent acquisitions, a Canadian Majestic "Marquette" I am reasonably certain that the original finish was similar to that of the "Montcalm" model that Mr. Bolan owns, except that his has set has bun feet rather then skirt boards.

Reply
Russ
11/21/2020 08:16:00 am

Arran

I am rather picky - no doubt. Not only do I refinish most of the refinished radios that I obtain, I have also refinished several of the radios that I had done, one at least 3 times - I like it now.

The major reason for refinishing a cabinet that someone else has worked on is color/toner wrong or missing. For this, pictures of a original radio are important. While it is true that a person begins to have a feel for how it would have been done, without a good picture it is still just a guess - refinished, AND THEN you find a picture!

The second most common reason for redoing a cabinet is the lack of grain filler.

The third reason is improper finish gloss level.

Fourth - and so on - is broken/missing parts and delamination or poor repairs.

This is one reason that I have taken so many pictures over the years.

Reply
Arran
11/21/2020 11:25:45 pm

Russ;
There are some radios that I had refinished myself, years ago, and I will eventually take another crack at redoing them, for the simple reason that I did not use grain filler at the time. I knew it wasn't right, but given how awful they looked it was still an improvement.
On at least two cabinets I will have to do some veneer repairs. One is a Canadian RCA A-20, where the veneer is where the cabinet curves inward at the bottom on each side. The other is a 1937 Musicaire, made by Sentinel, and the veneer around the base is actually lifting off along the front.
Just put of curiosity, do you use any dyes or penetrating stain on the white wood parts of your cabinets? I was experimenting with using brown fabric dye to predarken the wood, it saves on shading/toner immensely.
On one cabinet where I decided to refinish the refinish I did years ago, I was experimenting with Elmers wood putty for grain filler, it was a battery set that was originally toned all over with the same tint, except for the base which was black. What prompted me to do it over was not only the lack of filler, but the fact I found a photo of an original set online and thought I should bring it back. Farm sets aren't worth much so they are ideal candidates to practice on.

Russ
11/22/2020 12:40:31 pm

Yes. I use dyes (not stain) on cabinets who's manufacture was known to use dyes or I detect that dye was used while stripping the original finish. Stripper will not totally remove dye - sandpaper will.

Reply
seamless gutters Holly Springs nc link
6/7/2023 11:08:36 pm

I find this interesting and also I like the color.

Reply
Harry Luginsky
10/27/2024 10:03:52 am

Actually went through your blogs to find this one. Both of mine are marked model 515, though one is a total basket case, the other one is all original.

Reply



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CUSTOM DESIGN BY SUE WEBB  06/2013       Redesigned by Russ Webb     Approved by Fuzzy   Updated:  Pretty much all the time, but I forget to change this date
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Photos from valart2008, rafeejewell