Bowling Ball Radio

[cashwowud]

Hi there everyone.
My first post here so please bear with me.
I've had this GEC Bowling Ball portable for about 50 years but it has never worked. Now that I've retired I had it repaired but in transit the glass dial has broken in a dozen pieces.
Anyone got any ideas please? The glass measures 142mm x 77mm.
Thanks in advance.

cashwowud

[paulsherwin]

If you can't find a replacement from a scrap set, all you can do is print a scan onto plastic film and put it behind a piece of picture glass or perspex. Any decent glass merchant should be able to supply glass cut to the right size.

If you can't find a good scan online, you can make your own by scanning the surviving pieces then cleaning the image up with editing software. You may have to experiment to get the colours right.

[toshiba tony]

I like unusual things and that I do, big style. I want one!

[mark pirate]

It would be worth asking if anyone has one in the sets & parts wanted section in this forum, It has helped me obtain many parts over the years.


Mark

[David G4EBT]

Given that it's not a common radio, it's unlikely that you'll find a scan online, so your best chance would be to clean up the image using photo-editing. To create a good image, including cleaning up what was a rather careworn dial before it was smashed would take several hours, but much depends on what level of perfection you'd expect.

Just as an example, I've spent 20 minutes using 'Photoshop Elements' to tidy it up a little, but it would need a lot more time to do a really good job, going down to single pixels, reconstructing some of the lettering etc. Bear in mind too, that all I've done is to clean up a low resolution thumbnail pic. If you took a high resolution picture (on a white background (rather than on a wooden table top or whatever), you'd be starting from a better point.

In terms of how to then create a new dial, a saving grace is that as it's a potable radio, I guess the dial won't have been translucent and back-lit, but will have been opaque colours apart from the 'windows'. There are are only three ways that I can see of creating the 'windows':

1) A water-slide transfer (ACA 'Decal') on clear paper, printed in reverse and applied to the back of a new piece of glass, the same thickness (or rather 'thinness') as the original. From past experience, I think that would be too 'wishy-washy' as clear decals are best on solid backgrounds.

2) A waterslide decal printed on white paper, printed in reverse, with the windows carefully cut our with a scalpel crat knife while the decal is still on the backing paper. Applying decals is an acquired skill and it's quite a large decal, but its doable.

3) Print the image onto matt or satin photopaper, cut out the 'windows' with a scalpel, and sandwich the the dial between two thin sheets of glass.

I have limited experience of this sort of thing, so others who have more experience and practical knowledge (rather than opinions and ideas), might be able to assist further.

I hope this is helpful and will give you a little encouragement that the dial can serve as a basis for a newly created one.

Every good wish with it.

[bc312]

Ever resourceful David - you never cease to amaze me.
Mike

[toshiba tony]

It's got a strange attractiveness to it, as had some other objects of the time. I'm more clued up on tvs from the 50\60s. Certainly a weird time of strange sets.
Some were just volume and brightness and channel selector on the side but there was a good few that deviated from that, nice radio.

[David G4EBT]

Thanks for the compliment Mike.

I can fumble around with Photoshop but I'm far from being 'king of the hill', but not so amazing.

When the (low resolution) picture is enlarged for editing, as I said earlier, even before it was smashed, it had lots of blemishes due to the ravages of time (which some might consider to be 'patina' is the same way that may think that faded ripped jeans are the height of fashion). Hence, much depends on how far the dial is to be cleaned up. For example, the black lettering isn't 'black' due to it being faded, so to repair any damaged letters means 'cloning' the colour of undamaged letters or the repairs will stand out like a sore thumb if new black lettering was created.

I suspect that the glass front of the dial wasn't cleaned before the picture was taken, because the OP was simply enquiring what could be done to replace it. I've cleaned it up a little bit more to tidy up the background a bit, but if the OP wanted to take the route of creating a replica dial, he'd need to take a high resolution picture, with the glass cleaned, placed on a white background, ideally with the camera mounted on a tripod.

To do a good job of tidying it up would take several hours going down to single pixels. (To put that into perspective, a full stop is four or five pixels). I've attached an updated picture and I don't want to suggest that it's suitable to use - just to show that there's enough of the dial left to serve as the basis for a replica to be made from a decent high resolution picture.

With regard to what option to take in mounting such a dial, I think I'd go for a waterslide decal printed on white paper - not clear. When printed, it requires two or three coats of clear acrylic lacquer to 'fix' the ink or toner and protect it. If applied to the front if a thin piece of glass, than covered with another piece of glass would have the most authentic look. I say that because when the decal is applied it's very thin and would look as though it was applied to the back of the glass, whereas if printed on photographic paper and the 'widows' cut out, the edges of the widows would be visible.

As I said earlier, if a decal was to be made, the 'windows' would need to be carefully cut out while the decal is still on the backing paper as there's no possibility of cutting the windows after the decal is applied to the glass.

As well as tidying up the background a bit more, I've lightened to colour a little to what I thought might be nearer to the original colour, but if a replica dial was created, the shade could be darker, the contrast greater, or whatever. As it is, it might look reasonably presentable, but when enlarged and looked at down to a few pixels, it would need rather more work.

Not offering my services, just trying to make helpful suggestions, based on my own limited experiences with Photoshop.

If I need thin glass, (EG to replace smashed analogue meter dials) I usually buy picture frames from Poundland or The Range', remove the glass and cut it to size, but any glazier will cut a piece in a jiffy at little cost while you wait. (When they're able to open again).

Hope these additional comments might of interest and help.

[paulsherwin]

That doesn't look too bad at all David, and is a good illustration of what can be achieved reasonably easily. It doesn't really matter if you can see imperfections if you blow the image up to some huge size. The original won't have been perfect anyway, because of tolerances and limitations in the production process.

[Nickthedentist]

Yes, that's amazing, David!

I passed on one of these in the local charity shop just before lockdown. I wish I'd grabbed it now in a way, there don't seem to be too many of them surviving.

[paulsherwin]

It's an interesting looking set, and quite stylish in a minimalist sort of way - I've never seen one before. GEC seemed to make quite a few similar tall thin Bakelite designs with a moulded handle at the top.

[cashwowud]

WOW. Im a member of one or two classic car forums but this forum is something else - super helpful. I can't say that I'm a big vintage redio enthusiast but this radio was my aunts who gave it to me a long time ago and I think it's worth preserving. Thanks a lot to everyone for their input especially David.

[Lloyd 1985]

I e got one of these sets too, also with a broken dial! Luckily it was in 3 pieces, so it stuck back together with glass glue relatively cleanly, and it looks ok from a distance with your eyes closed in a dark room and your back turned to it.. the chassis in mine was suffering from damp storage, so I started taking it to bits, but that was a good few years back, and it’s still in bits in a box! The rebuild on that will be interesting to say the least. I’m sure I found a scan of a dial on here once? Can’t remember where though.

Nick, if it’s still there when lockdown is done, get it! They rarely turn up!

Regards
Lloyd

[David G4EBT]

Originally Posted by Lloyd 1985

I’m sure I found a scan of a dial on here once? Can’t remember where though.

Nick, if it’s still there when lockdown is done, get it! They rarely turn up!

Regards
Lloyd

In the 'Cabinet & Chassis Restoration & Refinishing' section there is a 'sticky' where dial scan can be posted, or we risk them just getting lost in other threads, such as in 'Success Stories' or 'Hints and Tips' and using the 'Search' facility doesn't necessarily find them. The Dials Scan 'sticky is here:

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=75881

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by cashwowud

WOW. Im a member of one or two classic car forums but this forum is something else - super helpful. I can't say that I'm a big vintage redio enthusiast but this radio was my aunts who gave it to me a long time ago and I think it's worth preserving. Thanks a lot to everyone for their input especially David.

As you're a new member and mentioned classic cars, I thought I'd mention that this forum has quite a strict policy on automotive discussions. That's because quite a few vintage electronics enthusiasts are also interested in car maintenance and vehicle restoration, and if we're not careful the forum will end up covering more automotive stuff than old radios. As you imply, there are plenty of classic car forums out there for those sorts of discussions.

This is just a heads up - you haven't done anything wrong.

[Lloyd 1985]

Got it! Post no.4 of This thread.

Regards
Lloyd

[ajgriff]

Well found! I wonder if Robert still has a high resolution version after all this time? Might be worth a PM to ask.

Alan

[ajs37]

I have 2 of these - a brown one and a black one - I had to go to an auction many miles away to bid on one of them - so I guess I do like them! I'll see if I can do a high res scan of one of the dial and post it here - may take a week or so as I have other projects on the workbench at the moment
Cheers
Andy

[ajs37]

Whilst waiting for the dew to lift from the lawn before mowing it, I found a bit of space on the kitchen table to disassemble the GEC and scan the dial

I have a jpg 1200dpi scan (1Mb)
I also have this file saved as a png (28Mb)

both are too big to post here, but I am quite happy to email it to whoever wants it - photo attached is only 39Kb!


Cheers
Andy

[Herald1360]

Just looked at the circuit for this- it uses (or at least the later models did) some regeneration in the IF! Presumably to increase sensitivity a bit. Makes it even more "interesting" and unusual.