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Old 22nd Sep 2017, 1:44 pm   #5
paulsherwin
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Oxford, UK
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Default 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.
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