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VINTAGE RADIO
By RODNEY CHAMPNESS, VK3UG
How to repair Bakelite cabinets
Up till now, restoring a valve radio set with a
broken Bakelite cabinet was regarded by most
people as a lost cause. Bakelite is a very brittle material and is hard to glue satisfactorily.
Right? Wrong! Read how it can be done.
What an absolute shame it is when
the inside of the set is in good condition but the cabinet is broken. How
many sets are there that cannot be
restored due to a broken case? How
many have been consigned to the
rubbish heap because what was once
a beautiful cabinet is now a pile of
broken junk? The value of a set with
a broken cabinet (or dial scale) is
almost nil.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the
cabinet from a Bakelite radio could be
repaired and made to look like it did
when it was first sold? Too right – you
say – but it can’t. Well I thought so
too – they were beyond redemption
if extensively damaged.
However, a fellow member of the
local vintage radio club, Ralph Robertson, has shown that even badly
broken cabinets can be effectively repaired.
Each collector cum restorer has his
or her particular area(s) of expertise
and one of Ralph’s is the restoration
of Bakelite cabinets. Many fine examples of his art are displayed in his
collection.
For the purposes of this story, I
applied his methods to an STC A-141
mantle set with a badly broken cabinet.
This is the same make and model as
the set featured in last month’s article. In fact, if you have a good look
at the photos in last month’s article,
you will see that it is the same set!
We’ll bet that few readers noticed that
the cabinet had been extensively repaired.
Repairing the cabinet
Photo 1: normally, you would
not consider restoring this sorry
looking mess. The cabinet looks
well beyond redemption.
90 Silicon Chip
I’ve taken nine photos to demonstrate the stages of this repair and
as you can see, it is a real wreck to
begin with. In fact, the cabinet would
normally have been consigned to the
garbage bin.
Basically the cabinet was in two
halves, with the grille in several pieces
and unfortunately some pieces were
missing. Photos 1 & 2 show the wreck.
As well, there was a chunk missing out
of the top at the back. Having looked
at this disaster it was time to start the
restoration. Before you start, make sure
you keep all the parts in a box so that
none get lost.
The first step is to thoroughly clean
all the pieces of the cabinet. Clean,
warm, soapy (kitchen detergent) water with cloudy ammonia in a ratio
of about 9:1 is used with a scrubbing
brush and an old toothbrush to get all
the gunk off. Rinse each piece under
cold water until it is clean.
Small cracks need to be slightly
prised apart and a pin or similar item
slipped into each crack so that it can
be cleaned to the best of your ability.
The toothbrush is the best item for
thoroughly cleaning out the cracks or
any of the cracked surfaces. Glue will
not adhere through dirt and grime, so
it is imperative to be very thorough.
Now the job of gluing the cabinet
together is undertaken. While the
method to be described is not suitable
in all cases, it will be a good starting
point and restorers can adapt the
method to individual cabinets.
Photo 3 shows the cabinet and the
bits necessary to hold it together as
the glue hardens. You need a length
of cord and a large rubber band cut
out of an old car or bicycle inner tube.
Get one from your favourite tyre store.
The cord is tied to the rubber band
as shown and the cord and band are
wrapped around the cabinet to be
glued. The cord is attached to the other
side of the rubber band and its length
adjusted so that reasonable tension is
applied via the rubber band to keep the
cabinet firmly together. It is removed
after the glue hardens.
Have a trial run with the rubber band
setup before applying the glue to the
broken edges of the cabinet.
Having worked out how you will
hold the cabinet together, dismantle
the cord and rubber band and start
the gluing process. Apply a bead of
Araldite (TM) along the surfaces to be
joined so that the glue is not proud on
the outside surface of the cabinet, if at
all possible. It dries a different colour
to the cabinet and will show up as a
visible line.
Surplus Araldite can be wiped off
with a cloth moistened with acetone.
On the inside it doesn’t matter. This is
not always an easy task as it is gooey
and seems to go everywhere except
where you want it and, of course, there
is limited time to do the job.
I’ve normally used 5-minute Araldite but with the rubber strap
employed, the longer setting version
could be used. If you have any doubts
about the freshness of your Araldite,
open a new batch. Leave the glue to
harden over several hours with the
holding strap on. Then take the strap
off and check your progress so far.
It is best to glue only one section
at a time and leave just a small gap
in the other surface to be joined as
shown in the photograph. A couple
Photo 2: the job looks even
worse with broken pieces
of the cabinet spread out.
Photo 3: during gluing, the cabinet is held under tension by a cord and rubber
band arrangement while the Araldite sets. Only do one join at a time.
of matches will keep the second break
apart. The Bakelite tends to distort
when broken, so by doing the repair
one surface at a time it is possible to
align them more accurately and get a
stronger join.
Small cracks can be prised apart
and a pin fitted to allow the glue to
penetrate, as shown in photo 3 – in
this case, above where the dial scale
fits. Remove the pin as soon as the glue
has filled the space.
I have had some problems with the
Araldite not having as much strength
as expected. To get the maximum
strength, mix the two components
thoroughly, stirring them until the
mixture goes milky. Continue mixing
July 2001 91
together. It was only necessary to add
a very small amount of black to the
brown to get a reasonable match to the
colour of the cabinet.
With a small artist’s brush, paint
the ice-cream sticks and let them dry.
There was a small amount of excess
glue in a corner near the grille which
I couldn’t remove, so I also painted
this to keep the cabinet a reasonably
uniform colour.
Once the paint is dry, use a small
fine-toothed file to file down the
irregularities in the paint finish. Paint
and file around three times but don’t
file or sand the last coat of paint. The
finish will now look almost identical
to the original Bakelite.
Strengthening the cabinet
Photo 4: ice-cream sticks were shaped and glued into the speaker grille gaps.
Don’t laugh, the end result is effective.
until the mixture again becomes clear,
then apply it to the joins. The joins are
now reasonably strong although not
as strong as the areas where no breaks
had occurred.
The speaker grille in this cabinet
was a real mess, looking a bit like
a fighter who had most of his teeth
knocked out. There were some pieces
still with the cabinet and these were
glued back into place with Araldite.
The cabinet was stood on end so that
the weight of the grille pieces would
not cause them to move as the glue
set; a messy job.
Next, it was necessary to make some
more grille pieces and in this case
ice-cream sticks made almost ideal
re
placements. These were slightly
shaped and cut to length, then glued
into place – see photo 4. Using a small
needle-nosed file it is possible to file
away the excess glue once it has well
and truly set.
Painting the grille
The ice-cream stick grille can now
be painted. Before doing so, clean the
area to be painted with methylated
spirits. The ideal paint is oil-based,
with a satin finish. This is not always
possible to obtain in small tins. I had
some black matt and some mission
brown gloss enamel which I mixed
Photo 5: the interior of the cabinet before fibreglass was applied to strengthen it.
A strip of fibreglass matting is shown in the foreground.
92 Silicon Chip
The next step is to strengthen the
cabinet as the glue bond is not over
the whole of the broken edges and
hence is not as strong as the rest of the
cabinet.
Fibreglass matting and general
purpose polyester resin are used to
strengthen the joins. On the inside
of the cabinet where the breaks were,
chip away the excess Araldite with a
knife or wood chisel. With 800 grade or
similar wet and dry paper, sand along
the glue joins for about a centimetre
either side of the joins, then clean up
with methylated spirits.
The full list of materials and tools
used for the strength
ening of the
cabinet are general purpose polyester
resin, cata
lyst hardener, fibreglass
matting, pigment to suit the colour
of the cabinet, acetone and a small
stiff-bristled brush. The resin may be
available in tins as small as 250ml and
the hardener is usually available in
bottles of around 30 to 50ml. Pigment
comes in 50ml bottles or larger (you’ll
use very little of it).
Fibreglass matting is available
in a variety of widths and density
and a suitable type is shown in the
photographs. Acetone is available in
tins from around 250ml. Brushes and
other materials are usually available
from hardware stores. Alternatively,
check with organisations that deal
exclusively with fibreglass materials.
The pigments are the hardest to
obtain and may need to be ordered
in. Dark brown is a good colour to
start with but red and black may be
necessary as well, as the exact colour
may need to be made by mixing various colours.
Photo 6: the missing section of the cabinet was replaced with resin applied
to a strip of celluloid or acetate. The materials used in the repair are shown
alongside it, less the fibreglass matting.
To match the colour of the Bakelite,
put a small amount of the pigment on
an inconspicuous part of the cabinet
so that you can carefully compare the
two. By adding red and/or black it
should be possible to match most dark
Bakelites. If you have trouble obtaining
the materials locally, it could be worth
while contacting Solid Solutions, 19
Ardena Court, Bentleigh, Vic 3204.
Phone (03) 9579 2044.
We are now at the stage of strengthening the cabinet. Cut a small strip
of fibreglass matting around 20mm
wide, as shown in photo 5, to match
the length of the repaired crack. Pour
one or two teaspoons of resin into a
35mm plastic film canister, then add
around five drops of hardener and mix
it well. Do not use too much catalyst/
hardener as it will cause the polyester resin to shrink. A 1% hardener
by weight ratio equals one drop per
five grams of resin. A 2% hardener
by weight ratio equals two drops per
five grams of resin and so on. The 1%
mixture has a pot life of around 30
minutes and the 2% mixture around
15 minutes at 25°C.
With a small stiff-bristled paintbrush, brush the mixture onto the
sanded-down area along the glued
joint, then place the matting along
the joins. Put more resin onto the
matting, working it into the matting
by dabbing with the paintbrush so that
it is thoroughly saturated with resin.
The fibreglass can be pushed around
to get it exactly where you want it.
Then leave it to set.
Clean the brush and the film canister container with acetone. The resin
does not stick to the plastic. Further
coats of resin can be put over the
original coats and sanded so that an
extremely smooth finish is obtained.
The sanded area of the resin goes white
but when another coat is applied, it
reverts to the colour of the resin or if
it has been pigmented, to the colour of
the pigment.
Plastic surgery
That is the easy part. The next stage
is the replacement of the missing bit
of the cabinet. Obtain an acetate (celluloid) sheet from an art material supplier. The sheets are around 600mm
square. Alternatively, you can use
celluloid from a shirt box, or similar.
Cut a piece just a bit bigger than the
piece of cabinet that is missing.
Attach it over the missing bit of the
cabinet with masking tape – see photo
6. This photo also shows the materials
needed to do the repairs.
Fortunately this is a simple curve,
so the sheet will follow it without
problems. However, be quite careful in
ensuring that the acetate sheet follows
the curve precisely and is flush with
the Bakelite that it is attached to. If it
isn’t, the resin will seep between the
acetate sheet and the Bakelite and
give a step in the finish where the
resin and the Bakelite butt up to one
another. The resin will not adhere to
the sheet.
Where curves are complex, a Plaster
of Paris mould would need to be made.
I won’t go into how to do complex
curves in this article – let’s just get a
simple one right.
Matching the pigment
The next step is to match the pigment with the colour of the Bakelite,
by mixing various colours until the
right colour is obtained. For most dark
Bakelites a mixture of dark brown,
black and red will usually achieve a
good match. Some fibreglass outlets
will mix pigments for a reasonable
cost and this may be better than buying
several tins or bottles of pigment.
I didn’t have quite the correct colour
pigment as can be seen in photo 7; my
next cabinet repair will be better. This
is then mixed into the next batch of
resin and hardener used. This is paintJuly 2001 93
Photo 7: the rough edges
of the fibre-glassed
repaired cabinet section
need to be sanded until
they are smooth.
Photo 8: this is how the repaired
cabinet looked before the final cut
and polish.
ed onto the underside of the acetate
sheet. Once this has set, put another
pigmented layer on.
Now cut a piece of fibreglass mat
to overfill the broken section. Brush
on another coat of resin, then lay
the mat over the gap and overlap by
about a centimetre onto the Bakelite
either side of the gap. While it is still
workable, put more resin onto the
mat, making sure it is saturated. Use
the paintbrush to dab at the matting,
forcing the resin through any holes,
thereby eliminating any air bubbles.
Dabbing also eliminates any brush
“drag”.
94 Silicon Chip
Allow to set, then place another
fibreglass mat into the gap and do the
same as for the first mat. Perhaps use
a little less hardener so that the setting
time is extended. If quite an area is
to be built up, talcum powder can be
used as a filler.
Once the resin has set, sand it so
that it is reasonably smooth. Cut off
any strands of fibreglass mat that
protrude from the resin and clean the
sanded material off. Coloured pigment
can be added to the next coat but is
not essential on the inside of the cabinet as the colour of the Bakelite still
shows through. The last coat of resin
will have pigment added to it to make
sure the matting under it is completely
disguised. Several layers of resin and
fibreglass are applied until the material is around the same thickness as
the Bakelite.
The edge of the resin and fibreglass
along the rear edge of the cabinet was
then sanded until it was straight and
smooth. Photo 7 shows the cabinet
with the acetate removed and ready to
be sanded. Another light coat of resin
is applied to the back edge so that it
is virtually the same colour as the rest
of the cabinet.
Repairing the cabinet exterior
It is likely that there will be a few
bubbles in the glue on the outside
surface of the cabinet. To get rid of
these bubbles, use a reasonably fine
file and working carefully, file the
glue away. Be careful not to file the
areas of the cabinet near the glued
joint. The glue will file quite nicely
and it is possible to get it nearly flush
with the cabinet. If the join is perfect
there will be no gaps, so the surface
will be smooth and continuous with
no bumps.
Finish off with fine wet and dry
paper (grade 800 - 1200 - 2000). In
many cases there will be some small
gaps as the Bakelite may have splint
ered on breaking and have very small
pieces missing at the break. It may be
necessary to fill these tiny gaps with
some coloured resin.
If for some reason the two sections
of Bakelite on either side of the join
are not level (this happens with some
breaks), it is quite practical to use the
file (with care) and the wet and dry
paper to sand away some of the high
side of the join to make it smooth. This
is ultimately finished off with automobile cream cut and polish which
will make the join hard to see – but
not completely invisible. The cabinet
looks a million dollars compared to
what it looked before restoration.
The next step is to use very fine
(grade 800 - 1200 - 2000) wet and dry
paper (wet in water) to remove any
light scratches. When rubbing, don’t
go too deep as it will put a dimple in
the cabinet. If you can’t get a scratch
out, try using a spirit-filled colour
pen such as a “Texta Colour” to tint
the scratch.
Automotive cut and polish can also
be used to remove the scratches but
if you do use it you may need to use
ELECTRONIC VALVE
& TUBE COMPANY
The Electronic Valve
& Tube Company
(EVATCO) stocks a
large range of valves for
vintage radio, amateur
radio, industrial and
small transmitting use.
Major current brands
such as SOV-TEK and
SVETLANA are always stocked and we
can supply some rare NOS (New - Old
stock) brands such as Mullard, Telefunken, RCA and Philips.
Hard to get high-voltage electrolytic
capacitors and valve sockets are also
available together with a wide range
of books covering valve specifications,
design and/or modification of valve
audio amplifiers.
Photo 9: this is the completed cabinet and receiver after its final polish. It’s not
perfect but would you have thought that the mess in photo 1 could be restored to
this standard?
methylated spirits to get rid of the
polish around where the spirit filled
pen is to be used. The final polish
won’t be done until the cabinet is all
in one piece.
The final polish
It’s been a reasonably long process
repairing the cabinet but it is really
starting to look great when compared
to the sorry heap of bits that we started
with.
I have found that car cut and polish
is very good for giving a cabinet that
last little bit of a lift. Firstly, make sure
that there are no obvious scratches.
If there are, use the fine wet and dry
paper to get these out if you can. Once
they are gone and the cabinet is smooth
but dull, it is then time to do the cut
and polish trick.
Put some cut and polish compound
onto a cotton rag and work on a small
area of the cabinet, such as the top.
Once it is nearly dry, use another cloth
and polish the area with a circular
motion – or rub the cloth backwards
and forwards if there is a groove where
you are working. Generally, do the
cutting and polishing over the whole
cabinet in sections, using the two
loths.
It can then be seen how the cabinet
has come up from the above photo.
It may be necessary to do further
work on some sections to get all of the
oxidised Bakelite off. The original rich
Bakelite colour underneath the gunk
will now be revealed – and doesn’t it
look good!
Fingers will mark the finish, so
carefully polish the cabi
net with a
clean rag. Keep your fingers inside
the cabinet if possible, to make sure
the finish is not marred.
Well, that’s about it. The cabinet,
while not without some blemishes,
is looking good as is shown in photos
8 & 9. The receiver has considerable
nostalgic value to the owner and he
was thrilled with the end result. What
more could I ask!
Summary
The method that I have described
in this article is not the only way in
which a Bakelite cabinet can be restored. It is a method that can achieve
quite satisfying results and save many
a set from an unworthy end.
This was the first Bakelite repair
job I have done with assistance and
encouragement from Ralph Robertson. This shows that with care, you
can confidently repair most damaged
SC
Bakelite cabinets.
PO Box 487 Drysdale, Victoria 3222.
Tel: (03) 5257 2297; Fax: (03) 5257 1773
Mob: 0417 143 167;
email: evatco<at>mira.net
New premises at: 76 Bluff Road,
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July 2001 95
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