Old Radio, New Guts, Questionable Design Choices

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Old Radio, New Guts, Questionable Design Choices

«‹›2 »

Parts Kit: Jun 9, 2006; durr
i have a hole in my head
durr

That looks really nice!

# ? Apr 16, 2017 16:29

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 19, 2024 22:23

Trabant: Nov 26, 2011; All systems nominal.

Thank you!

Also, starting to see the end in sight. One coat of black lacquer is down (although I had to scrape some of it down due to bubbling), as is a sheet of steel I'll be using for the control panel:

Also, settling on a very simple design for the control panel:

Found an engraver who'll do this for cheap. The dots above power/volume labels are where I'll drill through after the engraving for the switch/potentiometer stems to pass.

# ? May 8, 2017 03:06

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Looking good. No plans for a power light or anything on the face plate?

# ? May 9, 2017 17:12

Trabant: Nov 26, 2011; All systems nominal.

That depends on whether I can find an unobtrusive panel mount LED locally (RIP RadioShack). Otherwise I'm paying something like $10 in shipping for a $0.95 part :downs:

But yes, I think I'd like a small amber light just to the left of the "Power" label.

# ? May 10, 2017 15:44

Trabant: Nov 26, 2011; All systems nominal.

:it'shappening:

Filthy with fingerprints and whatnot, but it's happening!

# ? May 27, 2017 01:29

Trabant: Nov 26, 2011; All systems nominal.

More happenings!

Alllmost there.

Edit: there are about 4 or 5 projects' worth of components or tools in that desk shot. I really need to stop thinking I can do this crap in parallel :negative:

Trabant fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Jun 5, 2017

# ? Jun 5, 2017 06:10

Parts Kit: Jun 9, 2006; durr
i have a hole in my head
durr

Oh I bet that will look slick as hell!

# ? Jun 6, 2017 01:13

unpacked robinhood: Feb 18, 2013; by Fluffdaddy

Yeah this looks super nice, premptive congrats

# ? Jun 9, 2017 07:44

Trabant: Nov 26, 2011; All systems nominal.

^ Thank you both

Here it is, The Gatsby:

And some before & after for good measure:

Things I like:

The sound is excellent, with a good amount of bass.
The finish is largely super-smooth and glossy. It's actually difficult to photograph from certain angles due to the shine.
The control panel came out just as I had hoped it would.

Things I'm torn on:

I have a panel-mount LED and wiring for a power light, but I'm not sold on how it'd look. Installing it should be simple though -- drill a hole above the panel, insert diode. Whether I'll do this at some point is TBD.

Things I don't like:

There are parts of the cabinet with pronounced orange peel that I just couldn't get rid of.
As with any/all of my projects, I underestimated how long things would take.

I think I'll be sticking to smaller-scale projects for a good long while...

Thanks for following along!

# ? Jun 19, 2017 19:04

BigFactory: Sep 17, 2002

That looks really cool

# ? Jun 19, 2017 20:00

Dick Trauma: Nov 30, 2007; God damn it, you've got to be kind.

Well done!

That radio is basically the same age as my father. I'd like to go back to 1938 and tell the technician that assembled it that it would be rebuilt and upgraded almost 80 years later. For perspective if you went back 80 years from 1938 it would be before the Civil War!

# ? Jun 19, 2017 20:51

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 19, 2024 22:23

TomR: Apr 1, 2003; I both own and operate a pirate ship.

Nice work. It almost looks like a "hot rod" version of the radio.

# ? Jun 20, 2017 22:08

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Old Radio, New Guts, Questionable Design Choices

«‹›2 »