Antique Radio Collecting and Restoration
I began a hobby of antique radio restoration in March, 2010. I focus mainly on Crosley radios since they were built in Cincinnati, my hometown. As an Electrical Engineer, it is fun to get back into electronics in debugging and repairing these old radios. And with a lot of guidance from my brother Allan and his 40 years of experience in woodworking and refinishing, I am able to now complete a full restoration of the cabinet which makes for a nice looking radio. Below is my current list of restored radios.
For each photo, mouse over the picture to see the radio's original condition as acquired.
1931 Crosley Model 148 'Fiver'
The vintage cathedral is one of the true classic styles and the Crosley 148 is a good representation of that type of radio. This unit was fully stripped, sanded, and refinished and all of the capacitors replaced. With an external wire antenna, it picks up local stations well. It is now in near original condition.
1946 Crosley Model 56TC
This radio was bought is reasonably good condition. The cabinet was cleaned, waxed, and polished and so the original finish was able to be maintained. The plastic dial covered was replaced and a new back was put on. The grill cloth was carefully cleaned. New capacitors and an alignment resulted in very good reception on AM and shortwave.
1926 Crosley Model 4-29
The Crosley model 4-29 is a 4 tube early tuned radio frequency (TRF) model. The speaker or headphones were external. A long external antenna and ground wire were required. As to be expected, this arrived with a cabinet in rough shape, so a full stripping and restoration was done. The knobs were cleaned and restored and 1 incorrect knob was replaced. The electronics have not yet been addressed since a set of 3 external batteries are needed to power the unit. This is the most extensive cabinet restoration done to date.
1939 Crosley Model 628
The Crosley model 628 is one of the early Crosley plastic radios. This restoration called for a hard polish routine and waxing of the cabinet. The chassis had new capcitors installed for good reception and alignment. Finally, new call letters for the push buttons were made in Photoshop, cut out and applied.
1948 Crosley Model 88TC
The Crosley model 88TC is an AM/FM radio. As seen in the 'before' photo, the finish had extensive crazing so full cabinet restoration was completed. The dial scale was badly damaged so a new one was made with extensive Photoshop work and printing on overhead slide plasic. The final is lacquer and I may redo this in the future to get the finish closer to the original. The circuitry was in excellent shape so only an alignment was needed.
1947 Emerson Model 539
This was a restoration project for a friend. The radio had been in his grandfather's workshop shop for many years so had sentimental value. The cabinet was stripped and refinished. The correct knobs were researched via the radiomuseum.org website, were located, and purchased. The front grill was repainted. Several weak tubes and all capacitors were replaced. The reception is now excellent.
1952 Crosley Model D25MN
This was a restoration project for another friend. This radio was in his woodworking shop for many years so had accumulated a lot of sawdust, inside and out. His wife won the radio at a dance in 1953 so it had a lot of sentimental value. The cabinet was completely disassembled, cleaned thoroughly and then polished a great deal. The knobs were repainted to match. Minor electronic work and alignment were needed to get good reception.
1961 Heathkit GR-21
This radio was purchased in almost mint condition. The grill cloth was cleaned and the cabinet polished. Biggest issue was restoring the green tuning eye indicator to operation. No need for new capacitors. The inside looks like the day it was constructed. No 'before' photo, just a closeup view to show the tuning eye in operation.
1950 Crosley 10-138 "Dashboard"
This is one of the classic Crosly so called dashboard models because of the look of the classic auto dashboards of the 1950's. This radio arrived in very good condition. A loud hum was corrected by replacing all capacitors. A good polish of the cabinet completed the work.
1937 Crosley 20-AP
The Crosley 20_AP has a very nice distinctive design with the stripe accent. The circuit is a classic Crosley with broadcast and shortwave bands. The typical work was done with new capacitors, a new plastic reproduction dial cover and a new grill cloth. Duplication of the dark stripe pattern with the gradient shading was a bit of a challenge.
1941 Zenith 7-S-657R Console
This has been the most ambitious project to date. The cabinet was completely stripped and refinished with 5 coats of shellac. A new grill cloth , 1 new knob, and a lot of plastic polishing makes the exterior look like new. The chassis was fully restored with new capacitors and 2 new tubes. Restoration took over 150 hours. See this picture for a larger view.
