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Hints, Tips and Solutions (Do NOT post requests for help here) If you have any useful general hints and tips for vintage technology repair and restoration, please share them here. PLEASE DO NOT POST REQUESTS FOR HELP HERE!

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Old 17th Feb 2017, 3:02 pm   #1
Geoff 555
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Default Cheap speaker cloth upgrade.

Hello all. If you have come across the situation of having to replace speaker cloth and either the original is not available or simply just too expensive IE: cloth would be more than the whole radio is worth. Then I have picked up a bundle of nylon speaker cloth from a certain site, this is very cheap and also quite thin, being almost 'see through'.
My answer is to double up the thickness if neccessary and because it is very plain looking, OK cheap, I then give it a 'dusting' of aerosol paint either silver or gold. This gives it a bit of a twinkle and looks quite reasonable. Better than faded,rotten and holed cloth I think.
All the best.
Geoff.
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Old 17th Feb 2017, 4:21 pm   #2
Philips210
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Default Re: Cheap speaker cloth upgrade.

Hi.

Some good tips there. I have also found the cloth that's available is very thin but did successfully use it on a small Ekco radio which doesn't look too bad. I find that it's more important to stretch that thin type of cloth to get good results and avoid sagging.

It's a real challenge to find the correct type of cloth at reasonable prices and I am always on the look out for it. You can often come across something that looks very good but only to be disappointed by the fact it isn't that acoustically transparent. In other words it's too finely woven with insufficient gaps to let the sound out cleanly. I came across some interesting woven table mats that are the right sort of colour which I intend to use on one radio that needs it's speaker cloth replacing.

Charity shops and car boot sales can occasionally yield something suitable.

Regards
Symon
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Old 17th Feb 2017, 6:13 pm   #3
Panrock
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Default Re: Cheap speaker cloth upgrade.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff 555 View Post
My answer is to double up the thickness if neccessary and because it is very plain looking, OK cheap, I then give it a 'dusting' of aerosol paint either silver or gold. This gives it a bit of a twinkle and looks quite reasonable. Better than faded,rotten and holed cloth I think.
I did something similar at http://www.radiocraft.co.uk/406.htm when I enhanced the appearance of the expanded metal grille on a Baird Townsman by overlaying it with two layers of similar cheap fabric. Only I didn't spray them; I soaked them in coffee! The fabric layers were held together with a light coat of Scotch spray adhesive.

Steve
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Old 17th Feb 2017, 11:34 pm   #4
Phil G4SPZ
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Default Re: Cheap speaker cloth upgrade.

It's quite fun browsing the materials stocked by my local haberdashery store. I have found suitable material for several sets, including a Wartime Utility set and a KB FB10. Staining the material with cold coffee or tea is a good trick.

Perhaps I've been lucky but acoustic transparency hasn't been an issue, to my ears at least!
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