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Old 28th Sep 2006, 6:02 pm   #1
PWH
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Default Marconi 55 ~1929

Does anyone know what the correct finish for the metal front plate should look like?
Mine is very tatty and pitted so needs to be re finished. It looks like the main plate is copper with a brass 'cup' where the on/off wavechange switch sits. Was it bright copper & brass or was it 'antiqued' if anyone is old enough to remember seeing one or has a photo of a good example I would appreciate knowing
Thanks
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Old 3rd Oct 2006, 1:33 pm   #2
Brian4radio
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Default Re: Marconi 55 ~1929

Hi PWH, Jonathan Hills book "Radio Radio" quotes that the finish on the control panal was "anodised bronze". When I refurbed my set I used one of the LIberon's GILT CREAM finishes to get near to the bronze effect. Regards Brian.
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Old 3rd Oct 2006, 2:45 pm   #3
sparkie
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Default Re: Marconi 55 ~1929

I've got a (near) perfect 55 - the escutcheon is oxidised bronze (or anodised I think is another way of saying the same thing), the same finish which used to be used a lot in the 1920's/30's on fire irons, lamps, light fittings etc. Difficult to get it done nowadays, some platers still can I think, but there are metallic spray car paints which come fairly near....Steve
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Old 4th Oct 2006, 5:07 pm   #4
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Default Re: Marconi 55 ~1929

Thank you both. I wish I had not had to strip it down but the finish was so pitted it looked awful.

But to put the myth to bed the finish may be called 'anodised bronze' but underneath is actually a copper plated sheet of brass. So if anyone else has one and is contemplating polishing this plate, don't, unless you really have to Now to find a plater unless someone has a scrap set.........
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Old 6th Oct 2006, 9:41 pm   #5
Brian4radio
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Default Re: Marconi 55 ~1929

By the way team, what is the correct name for the symbol ~. I know it is used as the A/C sign but I can't find ~ anywhere in the dictionary or my maths books. Kind regards Brian.
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Old 6th Oct 2006, 10:33 pm   #6
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Default Re: Marconi 55 ~1929

Brian it is a 'Tilde' I do believe.


Matty
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Old 7th Oct 2006, 7:55 am   #7
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Default Re: Marconi 55 ~1929

It is indeed a tilde, but I was using it to indicate (perhaps erroneously) 'approximately' not AC. This is a battery set
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Old 7th Oct 2006, 3:03 pm   #8
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Default Re: Marconi 55 ~1929

This is drifting off topic but I think a 'double tilde' is used for approximately: ≈
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Old 13th Oct 2006, 1:38 pm   #9
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Default Re: Marconi 55 ~1929

There's an interesting page of "recipes" here http://www.sciencecompany.com/patina...naformulas.htm , which I found by way of a vague memory that potassium permanganate solution (see item 31, "variegated gold-brown") was recommended long ago in a vintage radio magazine as a road to recreating some of the "antique bronze" - type finishes on vintage escutcheons. I've been meaning to try it on the tuning window escutcheon of a 1931 Lotus that a previous "restorer" had made to gleam brightly Leaving it out in the back yard for a few months (the escutcheon, not the whole set...) produced an improvement, but hardly perfection. Still, I'm hardly in a position to cast the first stone, as I cheerfully polished away the "Florentine bronze" finish of my Ekco A22's speaker surround. 'Twas back in 1969, when I was ten years old and knew no better: 36 years of no more polish have lessened the visible damage

Paul
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