Battered AC34

[Oldelectronics]

Hi folks I recently bought an AC34 for spares it was only £6 on e bay plus of course postage its duly arrived. I fully intended it as bits things like control knobs the dial glass output transformer etc being worth (to me) much more than I paid for it . Only apart from missing its UL41 (vendor did point that out)And a couple of valves in the bottom of the case which may have fell out in transit it seems in reasonable and un messed with condition checking with the AVO even 'that' capacitor seems not to be passing any DC, output transformer also seems ok I have changed 'that' capacitor though. I will do the rest if I can get it to work. It just needs a mains cable which has been cut very short before I can try waking it up.
To get to the point the front of the case is fairly bad Can any one please suggest a remedy I am not after an as new or even original finish just tidy some type of filler and perhaps a darker shade of varnish would be fine I am not a natural carpenter And also I must not buy sets for spares!!

Regards

Kev

[paulsherwin]

It has lost big chunks of veneer. The only way to make a decent repair is to replace the veneer, which needs woodworking skills. The only other solution is to bodge it by filling the holes with fibreglass putty, sand everything flat, and spray it with paint. That is almost as much work as replacing the veneer though.

This radio was a reasonable spares buy, but sadly cosmetic damage to the cabinet is always a big job to fix and not worth doing in this case unless you want to do it as an exercise.

Don't think of it as a radio, think of it as a tuning scale, speaker, output transformer, mains transformer etc.

[Oldelectronics]

Sound Advice Paul thank you. I suppose I could always try to make it work just for the practice and fun of it. But trouble with that once working it would be twice as hard to take it to bits!!

Regards

Kev

[TonyDuell]

I often take the attitude that if a project requires skill I don't have then it is time to learn those skills. This would appear to be an ideal set to practice veneering on.

I am not a woodworker (I rebelled against my father who loved woodwork and took up metalwork instead...) but I think you would have to remove the veneer (at least from the 2 vertcal strips) and replace it with something similar. You have essentally 3 choices, to do the entire cabinet, to do those damaged strips with the best match you can find, or to do those damaged strips with something very different (say a much darker wood). The last would look quite attractive I think, but of course will not be original.

[Radio Wrangler]

As Tony says, it's an opportunity.

If you'd posted asking for help on how to repair the veneer on some special set, the advice would be to find something to practice on first, and that AC34 cabinet is just the job. Bought as a parts donor, the cabinet stands you at precisely nothing.

The dial glass and the speaker baffle come out.Then there are four hardwood stripsaround the front aperture of the cabinet. One of these is damaged and you want them all to match. And you want them out to make the veneering easier. They will probably have to be cut out. You can get thin hardwood strip from the usual DIY sheds, often in a wood like Ramin which is quite robust and nice to work with.

With the strips out you can just fill the craters on the right of the photo, sand the filler as you sand the whole cabinet, then you can put one big piece of veneer right over the top and down the front. Care is needed to get it lined-up with the grain straight, and then you use a hard wallpaper seam roller to make sure the veneer is down onto the cabinet without air bubbles and lumps. Now you cut carefully around the hole in the cabinet. I use a steel ruler duct-taped into position as a guide and a fresh blade in a stanley knife.

The time to sand down the veneer is now, before the new protruding strips go in. Also a first coat of varnish will prevent any whoopsies with the glue for the strips getting into the veneer. You can wipe it off without leaving a mark.

If you wanter to re-cover the sides, the time to do them is before the wrap over the front and the top. The edges are cut just proud, and then you finish by sanding them down to shape using fine sandpaper wrapped over a length of flat wood. This is how you finish the edges of the front/top piece of veneer.

With it unvarnished and matte, it looks sort of clean, but doesn't look good. They always look worse than they are. But once the varnish goes on, the colours of the wood sort of appear from nowhere and little flaws vanish. It's almost magical, and very, very satisfying.

The cheat here is in not removing the old veneer, which can be difficult or just plain tedious. Veneer is very thin, so you can get away with it.

Although there is one big piece to go on, there are no mitre joints in that protruding strip.

A real veneer artist would butt two pieces of veneer with matching grain, applied as mirror images with a joint line straight down the middle. But this is a neat, plain case.

Treat cabinet repair as part of the fun.

David

[paulsherwin]

I interpreted your original post as suggesting that you weren't very interested in the woodworking side of things. If that was incorrect and you want to learn those skills, than this certainly would be a good candidate for learning and experimentation without risking making things worse.

You could also use it to practice electronic restoration techniques such as complete component removal and chassis tag soldering.

[Oldelectronics]

You where correct in your assumption Paul.( I must admit though the skill shown by other posters on here does make you feel a bit inadequate!!) My thoughts were if I decided to keep the set and not break it for parts & I can make it work was to use your fill flat and paint on the damaged strip and of course the opposite side because that requires time rather than great skill. Your practice though on electronic restoration is a definite good idea.

[dseymo1]

If you took the filler route, it's easier than you'd expect to simulate woodgrain with paint and an artist's brush. If you filled and sanded the damaged areas, painted the filler to match the general colour of the set, added some darker flecks and streaks to more or less match the existing grain, then finished the whole set in a darkish varnish, I bet nobody would notice the repairs on casual inspection.

[mark pirate]

You could fill and paint it, I have a Hacker Mayflower II in a worse state than your Bush. It has both water damage and missing veneer, I intend to get a really smooth finish before spraying and lacquering it.
The idea would be to aim for a 'Piano' finish and replace the grille cloth with something nicer than the original.

Although the Mayflower is a very good quality set, I think the cabinet is rather ugly and plain, I am sure I will end up with something nicer looking!

Mark

[Nickthedentist]

Originally Posted by dseymo1

If you took the filler route, it's easier than you'd expect to simulate woodgrain with paint and an artist's brush. If you filled and sanded the damaged areas, painted the filler to match the general colour of the set, added some darker flecks and streaks to more or less match the existing grain, then finished the whole set in a darkish varnish, I bet nobody would notice the repairs on casual inspection.

Do you know anyone artistic? I have a cheap and cheerful Ikea storage cabinet which had been chucked out because someone had bashed a fist-sized hole in one side. My mum filled it with Polyfilla and then painted it to look like the surrounding wood. It barely shows and took her no time at all.

[Oldelectronics]

Now these are great ideas Guys & match my skill set thank you! If the set works? I have changed 'that capacitor' and re fitted the mains lead and a bit of a rewire in the case and will try it later when I fit the valves, on the volts dropper. If it works I will go the filler method.

[Oldelectronics]

I see what you mean guys all I Have done here is a quick fill with Ronseal medium wood filler.I haven't yet tried to shade in any grain lines and I haven't yet varnished and hadn't finished flatting.I think if you accept 60 year old radios may have acquired a few "war wounds" In particular as they sadly went out of use due to transistors and got shoved in lofts etc then for me (especially as I lack any of the brilliant woodworking skills I see on here and to be fair its not my thing) It will be ok. A visit to the local DIY shop for some varnish is now needed any know what shade would be best?

[paulsherwin]

That looks a lot better than I expected.

[Oldelectronics]

I think it was because the filler was a good guess Paul its virtually the same shade as the cabinet darker or lighter would be really obvious. decision now is do I varnish or wax as once waxed I cant varnish?

[mark pirate]

I would use Danish oil, I have had great success with this and would recommend it. With multiple coats you can achieve a lovely glossy finish.

Mark

[Oldelectronics]

Thanks mark Would you have to strip the existing varnish down to the wood before applying?

[mark pirate]

Yes, I usually use paint stripper to remove the old finish. A light sanding to remove any remaining finish/rough spots, then a good wipe down with white spirit.
Once dry and dust free, just apply Danish oil on a soft lint free cloth going with the grain of the wood. Once dry I give it a light sanding if needed, then another coat.

You can build up multiple coats to get a really deep and glossy finish, I restored a really rough KB set a while back. See here for how I dealt with the cabinet: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=76098

I hope it gives you some inspiration.

Mark

[Oldelectronics]

Thanks Mark I may try first flatting it and perhaps some antique Pine satin finish varnish as I know my woodworking limits!A Danish oil though is something I would like to try may be on a small item before doing a full size radio perhaps a small old box from a charity shop etc

[Stuart R]

Hello Kev,

That's an impressive match - I tried some wood filler for my Murphy A242 and it came up very orange. https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=95688

The project has stalled at the moment, but I did go out and buy some items in preparation. This included some wax crayons sold for furniture scratch repair and some colouring pencils.

I don't know what reaction the wax crayons or pencils would have with the final top coat, so maybe someone else could advise on the best method here. Since you've achieved such a great result with the filler, it would be a shame not to attempt Nick & dseymo1's suggestion of painting the grain back before you apply the final finish.

Regards,

Stuart.

[Oldelectronics]

Hi Stuart thanks I am going to try to put the grain back possibly with a soft colored pencil then after the holiday maybe get some Antique Pine satin finish as it looks about the same shade as the cabinet? What do you think? (thumb nail attached file) there seem to be two shades of cabinet the first set I did which is in regular use is dark this one is quiet light.

regards

Kev