Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

Hello, I'm no professional but bought a Rambler at an auction, paying £15 for three radios and finding the Roberts the only one working. I was completely hooked!
I've been after a Roberts Revival, but seeing how much these are I couldn't bring myself to buy one. I really fancied the pink leather one in particular!
So I couldn't believe my luck dropping on this beauty at my local car boot yesterday haggled down from £10, to £8 to £6, finally he excepted £5!!! YES £5! But the leather covering is shot.
I really would love to cover it in oil cloth, but don't want to disturb the mechanism being a total novice. I'm wondering if there is a way of getting the Roberts metal emblem off easily without damage? And if it's easy enough to actually dismantle the radio inside without damaging it?
I've scraped the leather off the back to reveal the beige suede like fabric. I might do the rest the same ideas and HELP NEEDED
Please x newbie please be nice ;) moo

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

I'm wondering if I should dye the beige cover that's under the leatherette ? I'm glad I didn't buy one new if this is the result

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

Hello and welcome.

I think the "beige cover" is probably just the MDF board that the cabinet is made out of, possibly with the backing of the original pink covering still stuck to it.

The best solution is to completely strip it and re-cover it in something suitable. There is a thread about one somewhere on the forum but note that David is a real expert and so don't expect to get results as good as his! https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=101131

Someone also simply painted the cabinet: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=134885

Nick.

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

I would remove all the components to leave the bare dog chewed cabinet and then remove all the original coating.
Next get a can of yacht varnish. You need the thick smelly slow setting stuff.
Find something that will colour it such as photo copier toner and mix a small quantity.
Then working between a small pot of natural and the other with the mix you should get a wood grain look. You will need to experiment on a bit of scrap wood.
The badge should stick on with just the varnish if it is laid flat for 24 hours while the varnish sets.

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

The material used by Roberts for the Revival models is awful stuff and certainly doesn't need to be chewed by a dog to deteriorate. The only real solution is to recover the cabinet with something, which isn't easy but certainly isn't impossible. It will help if you have some crafting or upholstering skills but you can learn on the job. It will be necessary to remove the guts, speaker and brightwork, which is actually quite easy.

Most people use thin leathercloth or upholstery vinyl as a covering material, but the choice is up to you. One option is to find a pair of leather trousers or a leather jacket in a charity shop and use the fabric, or you may be able to scavenge a big piece of leather from an old sofa if someone is chucking out some furniture. For a quick and dirty job you could use adhesive vinyl, the 'sticky back plastic' of Blue Peter fame, which you can buy in sheets from Poundland and DIY sheds.

The most difficult thing to fix is likely to be the handle. You could have a new one made by a leatherworking craftsman, but that is likely to cost more than the radio is worth. As a cheap alternative, you could simply remove it.

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

I agree with Paul, once the guts are out you can play to your hearts content. It may take a few goes, who cares? Don't leave anything a bit under par, it will annoy you for life!

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

Hi,

If I remember correctly, to get the internals out first requires removal of the handle, that comes off with some very small circlips, then the things the handle is attached to the sides of the radio with unscrew, the whole chassis minus the speaker should be removable then. I can't remember how I removed the aerial connector from the back of mine, it might have involved a bit of soldering, or may just unplug. The beige material you found is the backing of the original covering.

I still need to finish mine! I have the RD50 with the brushed aluminium front and back, and black leather centre and handle. I was going to use either dark blue denim or carbon fibre effect vinyl wrap.

The Roberts badge can be removed once the chassis is out, there are 2 pegs on the back of the badge which can be accessed from inside the case. Carefully push them to get the badge off. I can't remember if there were any clips holding it on the inside.

Regards,
Lloyd

Thank you so much everyone I'm a bit worried about taking out the radio components to be honest but I dropped on an old bag today that I may use and also bought a lovely bag from home bargains 69p ! I might use that but I think ill have to keep the interior intact as I've no idea how to get it out ( looks like some sort of rivets holding it in place ?) So bit uneasy taking it out IF I can ?

These are the fabrics I MIGHT use

Thank you everyone I will post a photo when I've decided what to do with it x yes the beige is the base of the original fabric which to be honest still looks better than the tatty leatherette x

Does anyone know how to get th r interior out safely ? Does the back board Attachment unplug from the main radio internal parts does anyone know having wanting one so long ( I didn't know how to edit my first post should have said Roberts rambler!)
I don't want to break the actual radio !

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

Yes - the covering self destructs. Ours is/was a nice green colour - but has spontaneously peeled. Looks a real mess.

Removing the inner radio of Roberts revival
 

Does anyone have a link to show me how to strip out the radio without breaking it please

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

Well I've decided that this is how it's going to stay I think what you guys recon ?

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

I'm working on a little document to show how to take it to bits, hopefully I'll have it finished by this evening. So far during the dissassembly of mine I didn't need to de-solder anything, it is fiddly though! You'll need some needle nose pliers, and loads of patience!

Regards,
Lloyd

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

Thanks Lloyd

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

I guess the beige fabric doesn't look too bad! Certainly better than a shredded fake leather... It may even be possible to dye it, although I've never tried to do such a thing, and have no idea how it would affect the cabinet.

Regards,
Lloyd.

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

Oh, I think you may have the bug now, what is next?

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

I've thrown together this rather rough guide on how to get the internals out of an RD50, hope it helps!

If anyone spots any errors in it, please let me know and I'll make some adjustments.

Regards,
Lloyd

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

Is the document in a new thread Lloyd ?

And yes I have the bug lol I'd like to make a iPod dock from an old thirties radio cabinet lol if I can drop on a bargain radio that is lol I love a bargain I do (plus I'm going to start collecting records as hubby has been given a bangaholson stereo player, his old boss was throwing it out !!!)

This new website will make me want to do up many projects I'm sure lol

Re: Bargain find Roberts Revival
 

Just spotted your file to download Lloyd x