Radio cabinet refurbished.

[Greg G.]

I took a break from phones and finally refurbished my antique radio cabinet.  The electronics will still have to wait.  Here's before and after pics. 

[Just4Phones]

WOW    Absolutely beautiful job and a great radio!!!!  The cabinet looks Victorian but I know they didn't have radios then.  What year is it? 

[Dan/Panther]

Beautiful cabinet. I love the early consoles. Is that about 1930 or so ?
D/P

[Dennis Markham]

Beautiful wood cabinet, Greg.  Nice job on that.  Now you need a radio guy to get it working for you.

[Greg G.]

1929 Majestic Highboy.  The style is Jacobean, which would have been considered traditional for it's time.  Art Deco would have been considered modern in that era.

In case you're wondering what I used, Howard's Restore-A-Finish and fine (0000) steel wool.  The steel wool worked great in getting into all the ornate curves and nooks.  Howard's comes in various colors, I used Dark Oak.  There were some paint flecks along the ledge and I tried to get them off with my fingernail at first, but one's fingernail is not as soft as you might think, it was leaving scratches, so I used the steel wool with a little elbow grease.  That got a good portion of them, but the more I looked, the more I noticed, and some you could only see at a certain angle under certain light, so I didn't get too fussy about them.  Final step was wax and polish with Howard's Feed-N-Wax Wood Preserver.

Now if only the darn thing worked.  There is one thing odd that occurred to me about this radio as I was working on it.  If you enlarge the second picture, you see those curve wear marks above the little metal door tassels?  They're obviously caused by the little handles, but why are they above the handles?  

[Dennis Markham]

Greg, my radio cabinet has the same paint speckles that you mentioned.  I did the thumb nail thing too and found I was scratching the surface.  I just cleaned it up with some Old English.  The paint speckles are still there.  Maybe if I get brave I'll try the steel wool in an inconspicuous area so see if there will be any damage.

[paul-f]

<snip>
If you enlarge the second picture, you see those curve wear marks above the little metal door tassels?  They're obviously caused by the little handles, but why are they above the handles? 

If someone opens the door real fast and it hits the frame, is there a high spot that corresponds with the marks?  Perhaps it's the circulat arc on the trim decoration.

It was a great find to get this complete.  I have seen many similar vintage radio cabinets that have been repurposed to collector cabinets or liquor cabinets -- after gutting the radio.

[Greg G.]

<snip>
If you enlarge the second picture, you see those curve wear marks above the little metal door tassels?  They're obviously caused by the little handles, but why are they above the handles? 

If someone opens the door real fast and it hits the frame, is there a high spot that corresponds with the marks?  Perhaps it's the circulat arc on the trim decoration.

It was a great find to get this complete.  I have seen many similar vintage radio cabinets that have been repurposed to collector cabinets or liquor cabinets -- after gutting the radio.

I checked that, but the door fully opened extends a bit beyond the main part of the cabinet, and none of it touches the cabinet.  These are out right gouges.  They don't appear below because there is a small nipple on the bracket that prevents the tassels from touching the door, but no nipple above it.  I suspect they were deliberate, as there is evidence that the unit has been around small kids in the past.

[BDM]

Looks like a Majestic 90 (or 90B, hard to say). Either way, this is basically a neutrodyne set, not a superhet. Very heavy chassis, excellent sound quality from them. These large Majestics can be a real pain to restore. Far from impossible, and actually quite simple electrically. But they use large tar potted electrolytic which are very time consuming and dirty to properly restore. They also have pot-metal tuners which tend to crack or corrode away. Not trying to discourage you, just trying to give you an idea of issues found with these particular sets. I'm no expert, but I've been around one or two.

[Dan/Panther]

What marks are we talking about, all I see is a square shaped marking, that almost looks like someone deliberately drew it on the front of the cabinet below the dial.
D/P

[Dennis Markham]

Dan, I think he's referring to the marks above the handles.  See attached photo..........

[Dan/Panther]

I see now, it is odd that the scratches are at the top. The doors swing out and fold back right ?
D/P

[Greg G.]

Looks like a Majestic 90 (or 90B, hard to say). Either way, this is basically a neutrodyne set, not a superhet. Very heavy chassis, excellent sound quality from them. These large Majestics can be a real pain to restore. Far from impossible, and actually quite simple electrically. But they use large tar potted electrolytic which are very time consuming and dirty to properly restore. They also have pot-metal tuners which tend to crack or corrode away. Not trying to discourage you, just trying to give you an idea of issues found with these particular sets. I'm no expert, but I've been around one or two.

I've researched what it takes to restore the electronics, just not something I'm able to undertake at this time.  I've only gotten as far as having the two most expensive tubes tested ($45 each to replace).  One was good, the other marginal.  The tuner rotates to both extremes w/o any kind of abnormal resistance or noises. 

[Greg G.]

What marks are we talking about, all I see is a square shaped marking, that almost looks like someone deliberately drew it on the front of the cabinet below the dial.
D/P

The square shaped marking below the dial is a stick outline of a house, obviously scratched in by some kid at one time.  Here's another pic with the flash turned off so you can see it better.  It's not even visible unless you look real close.  Also a better look at the gouges above the handle and a view of the door fully opened.

[AE_Collector]

The little points on the very end of each handle look capable of making those circular gouges EXCEPT that it doesn't look like that is quite the spot they would hit if flipped up. Even if they did hit there, what would have caused them to hang upside down long enough to make those marks? SHipped upside down by rail or truck...around the world many many times!?

Terry