Pye Fenman II

[Radio_Dave]

OK, the cabinet was in very poor condition and had to be stripped. I stained the sides with the darkest stain I had, painted the end grain and then finished with three coats of Danish Oil.

The dial glass was also in bad condition. The centre, white MW wave section was flaking badly. I scanned what was left, repaired it with Photoshop 4, changed the colour to dark brown (white doesn’t print) and printed, just that section, onto A3 inkjet transparency film.

It took a lot of courage to wash the remains of that section of the scale completely off My image was then sandwiched between the original dial and another piece of cut glass.

Luckily the Perspex bass lever was original but three of the other knobs were not. A quick rummage though my spares box turned up some ex equipment knobs which, personally, I think look better than the originals

Electrically, all the Hunts Mouldseal, tubular waxy capacitors and electrolytics were changed. The biggest problem was that the original volume pot, which, originally, had a 300 ohm tap on the 1 Meg track had been replaced with an ordinary linear pot and a bunch of resistors! I threw this lot away and managed to fix a tap, mechanically, onto the edge of the track of a 1 Meg log potentiometer

Initially I had a lot of trouble with crackles and varying volume, this was sorted after I located and rectified several dry joints in the hook up wires

Anyhow I've attached a couple before and after photos. The radio has been on all weekend and is working really well. The sound and volume from these radios is truly fantastic

Regards
David

[paulsherwin]

Nice job David, an inspiration to us all

The original knobs must be the worst I've ever seen. I can understand why somebody might have changed all the knobs to 'modernise' the set, or even broken one and replaced it with whatever was to hand, but that mess - ugh.

The Danish oil certainly gives a good finish.

Best regards, Paul

[Paul Stenning]

The tuning scale looks really good. If you didn't know it was supposed to be white you wouldn't realise it was the wrong colour. An excellent job.

The grain pattern on the front is possibly a bit too prominent, but this often seems to happen with stripping and staining, and it seems to dull down on its own over time with exposure to light and air. You always lose the "age" with stripping, but with a set in that state there was no other option. It looks much better now than before - and I certainly couldn't do any better!

A good weekend's work!

[Radio_Dave]

Originally Posted by Paul Stenning

The grain pattern on the front is possibly a bit too prominent

Yes I agree, but the front wasn't actually stained I think it's just the effect of the Danish Oil, it really penetrates into the wood

[Nickthedentist]

And I think your knobs are an excellent substitute for the originals - not authentic but go with the cabinet very well.

[Paul Stenning]

Originally Posted by Radio_Dave

Yes I agree, but the front wasn't actually stained I think it's just the effect of the Danish Oil, it really penetrates into the wood

Yes, I had the same thing with my Wartime Civilian set which I just treated with Wood Reviver and Antique Oil. It looks a lot better after a couple of years on the chest of drawers in the bedroom.

[Brian R Pateman]

Well done David!

You have put me to shame as my FMII is still sitting on the end of my desk exactly as I got it.

The sides and top on mine are painted black, which I thought from (admitedly failing) memory was the original finish. At least it looks original on my set, perhaps there were variants.

These are IMO one of the finest sets produced in the UK and sound as good as anything.

Regards,

[Nickthedentist]

Originally Posted by Brian R Pateman

The sides and top on mine are painted black, which I thought from (admitedly failing) memory was the original finish.

Mine are glossy brown painted and definitely original. I suppose they could have been rather opaque coloured lacquer which has become more opaque with age, but I'd say not.

[sparkie]

Yep, well done. I've always thought that the finish on the sides of the Fenman really detracts from the look - that dark brown or black finish is so drab. Your Danish Oil finish looks fantastic. As you say they're a real performer, demonstrating mine to friends who've only ever heard the usual black plastic Tokyo Handbag type of ghetto blaster gets looks of pure amazement and 'why can't we get something like this nowadays'.......Steve

[JoshWard]

Well done Dave! They truly are excellent sets, i'm so happy to have got one after years of searching.
As for the dial technique it might be worth doing that on my early 1950s French Philips BF393A. Josh.

[Drifton]

Success indeed David, More so considering what you had to work with... Very nice job!

Like you I had to change the knobs as I had one misusing. The originals were rubbish quality. Bit like the cap's really.

I do a pretty good facsimile handbook for the FMII, so if you PM your address I'll get one off to you f.o.c.

Cheers,
Dave.

[Radio_Dave]

Originally Posted by Drifton

Like you I had to change the knobs as I had one misusing.

Hi Dave, Have a look at the 'before' pictures. If that second from the left knob is an original you can have it... if I can remember where I put it PM me if your interested

Thanks for the offer of the handbook but I've, actually, already made one out of light weight card

Regards
David

[Mike Phelan]

Very nice job, David.
The FMII is always been one of the sets I admired when they were a bit younger (and so was I!) and I will probably end up getting one, in which case the handbook facsimile would be very welcome.

[telstar]

Hi. The Pye Fenman II is certainly a great looking set with a great sound quality to it. I have my set to do up - the cord drive failed on mine, it is not easy to access the cord spring behind that drive drum with a cog behind it. Like yourself, David, I too replaced all the Hunts & waxed caps.
My set has been fitted with a ferrite aerial by someone in the past (must be a later model).
It took me a while to obtain a good set of original knobs. I will eneavour to apply some grease to the control shafts, and the insides of the knobs, so that they do not get broken if I ever have to remove them again.
Regards
Mike

[Drifton]

Originally Posted by telstar

My set has been fitted with a ferrite aerial by someone in the past (must be a later model).

My F'M' II also has a ferrite aerial on the a.m. side.
There is also an internal foil aerial for f.m. This is stuck to the back cover... just in case you lived twenty paces away from a mast.

Originally Posted by telstar

It took me a while to obtain a good set of original knobs. I will eneavour to apply some grease to the control shafts, and the insides of the knobs, so that they do not get broken if I ever have to remove them again.
Regards
Mike

Apply silicon grease like the type used to slide plastic waste-pipe plumbing together. It’s inert and won’t affect the early plastics used in the 50’s. If you use mineral grease, in time it will locally melt the plastic, dry out and it’ll all be over… the knobs will bond to the pot’ spindles and you’ll have to smash them to get them off.

Cheers,
Dave.

[Brian R Pateman]

Originally Posted by Drifton

My F'M' II also has a ferrite aerial on the a.m. side.
There is also an internal foil aerial for f.m. This is stuck to the back cover... just in case you lived twenty paces away from a mast.

Dave.

The foil aerial works surprisingly well here in West Cumbria - not an area renowned for the quality of radio reception on any wavelength.

Of the sets I have with FM the FMII gives the best performance on its internal aerial. (Yes, that surprised me too!)

Regards,