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Old 29th Mar 2011, 4:09 pm   #261
valvekits
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

Hi Col
I sincerely hope you don’t get any sleepless nights over the toughened glass.
But just in case you do, I discovered a company in Liverpool a few years ago called J B Treasure & Co . They were very helpful; nothing was too much trouble and their price including delivery was a fraction of what I was being quoted locally.

Regards
Eddie
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Old 29th Mar 2011, 5:22 pm   #262
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

Hi,

Thanks for the information Eddie and if I have any problems locally will contact them.

A few years ago I bought toughened safety glass for two interior hardwood doors I made and had to order this specially but I can buy laminated glass over the counter cut to size whilst I wait.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 3rd Apr 2011, 10:42 pm   #263
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

I won't say much because other people have already said it all but thanks for writing this as I've really enjoyed reading it and you have at least inspired me to have a pop at French polishing.
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Old 4th Apr 2011, 1:10 am   #264
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

Persistent isn't really the word for it Col and the results really do speak for themselves. I also admire the way that you take the trouble to respond to each individual without leap-frogging over anyone, although I recognise that it's probaly very time consumiing, like quallity cabinet making! I'm too much of a Magpie to ever keep on the one item like this but as you say, these skills have to be preserved somehow. I hope that you are now happy to be entrapped in the overall restoration process as it doesn't look as though you will be able to get out in a hurry. I'm not able to offer any real help to you but as you are so climatically challenged on your erie in Huddersfield perhaps a move to the milder South East could improve productivity-especially the Bexhill conservatory? Check the daily weather contrast on this [although I do very much like Ramsbottom myself]. As for the pesky religious visitors, I've a few awkward questions that would guarantee you remaining undisturbed thereafter.

Great stuff,
Dave W

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Old 4th Apr 2011, 9:26 am   #265
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Hi,

Many thanks ThePillenwerfer for your kind comments and it's good news to hear you are going to give French polishing a go; it will be difficult and strange at first for you but persevere and you will succeed; please try a simple shaped cabinet with plain sides first and don't worry about spoiling anything because any problems can easily be flatted out with abrasive paper; my main problems with my first French polishing job was where to buy the materials especially the skin wadding; the actual polishing I picked up quickly and I tried to make each cabinet that bit better than the previous one. Take your time and enjoy the learning curve because to stand back and admire a cabinet that you have French polished is well worth the effort.

Thank you Dave; yes it does take considerable time to keep up to date with the thread but I try to put back what I take out as so many members have generously helped me since I joined the forum and really this is the essence of such a forum for mutual benefit to all. I'm also a member of other forums but the time spent is very worth while and I've made many friends around the world.

Regarding sticking with a project Dave I have to say I'm like a dog with a bone and won't let up until the project is completed; I've never liked pulling multiple items apart at once because I tend to lose the plot quickly and would find it hard to concentrate; doing one restoration from start to finish I can put heart and soul into it; sometimes when things go wrong I could scream and many years ago when I varnished a solid hardwood large coffee table top I stood looking at it the day after with tears of frustration running down my cheeks because it was so cold the varnish refused to dry.

I'm still learning and like everyone else things can go wrong for me but I won't be beaten; usually when I calm down and think about a problem I can usually resolve it one way or another. This cabinet restoration has lost me a great deal of sleep as I've been awake for hours many nights resolving problems and planning work for the following day.The only guarantee I have is my own confidence to tackle a job and as long as I can see the end result in my head I just work towards achieving it.

Bexhill Conservatory sounds just fine and should be warm enough even for me with the sun on the glass; yes we have thought about moving but not in the UK; after working on so many restorations in sub zero temperatures I don't know how I would cope if the temperature rose to above 15 degrees; we visited McArthur Glenn retail outlet in York a couple of weeks ago and had to leave the building because the sun was shining on the glass roof making us feel ill.

The restoration has slowed right down at the moment due to arranging collection of a scrap set I've been kindly given; I need the LOPT from this and I also need to do a bit of running around to obtain the safety glass and metal for the safety glass securing strip. I'm still working in the background although there is little to post at the moment.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 4th Apr 2011, 10:10 am   #266
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

Hi Colin,

It is without doubt a remarkable transformation and your skills are truly amazing.

Of course it's your telly and you can do what ever you like with it. I'm just a little worried that this thread, with its huge following and exposure on the world wide web, could be too influential and set a precedent as a "restoration" when it, really, should be described and seen as a "customization" .

Regards
David
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Old 4th Apr 2011, 12:48 pm   #267
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Hi,

Initially titling this thread "Restore's dream" was accurate because the set in question was the GEC TV I had seen in the "Bulletin". I enquired after this GEC but as the owner wanted to retain it I was then offered the choice of TV's to restore settling on this Ekco T311.

You are of course correct David and I would be the first to own up that this is not a true restoration but as you point out a highly customized cabinet to suit me. I have pointed out previously that given the dreadful condition and that the set was not rare or valuable I felt I could practice my cabinetmaking skills on it and learn new techniques. I also added that I had no intention of copying the original bland veneer and treacle finish but hoped to improve upon this.

I believe I could have restored the cabinet back to original specification and given it a decent French polish finish and if the set had been rare would have indeed taken this course but what a journey this turned out to be; I've now got the cabinet more to my liking and totally agree it is now better described as fully customized but I hope I haven't misled anyone because just by looking at the picture of the cabinet as I received it and the cabinet now fully customized I doubt anyone would consider it a true restoration and I made it clear this was never my intention.

In order to make the project more interesting for me David I chose the hard option of trying to make the best out of the old cabinet which really should have been thrown in a skip rather than making a brand new cabinet which given my extensive woodworking kit would have been considerably easier.

You've raised a valid point David and thank you also for the kind comments. Perhaps I've inadvertently started a new trend in customized TV or radio cabinets. I would not hesitate doing another cabinet in similar style but next time with even better veneers. The main aim of this thread was to show that anyone with limited skills but plenty of determination and patience could pull off a project like this by only having a go; I feel I've personally stretched myself to the limit and had to learn many new techniques during this project making it most enjoyable for me and a good story for other members to follow during the doom and gloom months of winter. Please don't let the old skills die out and why not tackle your first French polish job just for the fun of it; the results can be outstanding.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 4th Apr 2011, 2:24 pm   #268
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Retired View Post
Hi,

... after performing very basic staining on a test piece of veneer this morning the test has failed.

This failure was expected but the test was worthwhile and is information for others to save them a lot of grief should they try to mask with tape adjoining veneers in order to add colour to one...

I know this is too late for you but it might help somebody else.

To stop stain spreading to where you don't want it score a line where you want it to stop.

I think that your stringing would have been pretty safe due to its grain running at ninety degrees to that of the cross-banding and the glue between would also have formed a barrier. That said I wouldn't have liked to have risked it and the result couldn't have been any better.

- Joe
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Old 4th Apr 2011, 3:05 pm   #269
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Hi,

Many thanks for this tip and the picture Joe but I have to agree in this instance the risk was much too high.

I did successfully stain the cross banding before bedding the stringing as this gave a safety barrier in the groove but the subsequent scraping of the stringing removed most of the stain.

With the stringing in place the staining became very difficult and the problem was not only in preventing it creeping but how to apply the stain. I know for certain that applying stain with a brush in this instance would have taken tremendous concentration because a brush even slightly too wet would flood either the cut line or glue line. Even worse would be trying to apply stain using a cloth because running a stain wetted cloth up to a fine line is full of trouble and even a slight slip would colour the stringing and possibly extend to the inlaid panel as well; this one job of staining gave me nightmares before I found success through using masking tape after first fully sealing the grain.

It is a good tip though Joe and I would be interested to learn how you applied stain so neatly up to the cut line without it creeping. Such tips are most welcome because usually there is more than one way to do a job. Are you into cabinetwork as well Joe?

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 4th Apr 2011, 3:56 pm   #270
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Default Re: Restorer's dream.

I enjoy wood-work certainly. I've never tried French polishing as I didn't think shellac was still available and that what was called "French Polish' would be some modern substitute. I've wanted it a few times for other things like sealing electrical windings.

I applied the stain (Colron Jacobean Dark Oak) with a cotton bud. It's my favourite colour as well and I originally bought this tin to finish off things I'd made a school.

You may also be pleased to know that you've got me thinking about sorting an old Pye radio out that I made a mess of as a child with a disc sander. And may the Lord have mercy upon my soul.

All the best

Joe
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Old 5th Apr 2011, 2:50 pm   #271
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Hi,

Disc sanders and children are seldom a good combination but at least now Joe you have the opportunity of putting things right with your Pye and good luck with it.

I'm also a member of a woodworking forum and even on this forum French polishing appears to be some kind of mystery. All French polishing materials are readily available and links to suppliers websites are already included in this thread; 1 ltr of shellac will be sufficient to finish two table model sized cabinets; it's the cost of labour involved that makes having something French polished by a professional so expensive and I can fully understand this as time costs money.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 12th Apr 2011, 11:10 am   #272
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Hi,

Dreams do come true. Four months ago I was looking at a total wreck wondering what to do with it and whether I should throw the cabinet in a skip or try to restore it.

This cabinet restoration has given me much pleasure and hopefully been entertaining for members to follow during the long gloomy dark months of winter with nothing worth watching on TV making my ramblings at least worth following.

The baffle board is now fully installed; originally this was secured to the bottom of the cabinet by two wooden blocks; the blocks being screwed into place. Having made my own baffle board veneering a core of MDF I was not too happy at trying to attach this to the blocks using wood screws so in the end glued two new wooden blocks in position onto the baffle board using woodworking adhesive after firstly tapering the bottom edges of each block to give clearance whilst pushing the baffle board home; I then drilled wood screw pilot holes into each block using the original screw holes in the cabinet base and securing with screws; this worked very well and proved less fiddly than playing around with loose blocks.

Laminated safety glass was bought measuring 17 3/8" x 13" x 1/4" costing £12.10 inc. Whilst at the glass merchants I enquired if he could remove all sharp edges; he could but it would mean having to wait with a return journey to Dewsbury so I brought the glass home and removed the sharp edges using a diamond honing block of the kind used for honing chisels and plane blades. it made a decent job of it and was quick making handling the glass much safer; I did manage to scratch the finish whilst testing the glass for fit before removing the sharp edges; not a big problem but one that won't be repeated in future.

Jeffrey very kindly sent me pictures and dimensions of the bottom glass securing metal strip and taking these along I visited a local sheet metal company to have the strip made up. I'm known to this company as I buy offcuts from them. It was interesting to see how far sheet metal guillotines have advanced over the years since I last used one when I used to have to mark the sheet at both ends then align manually by eye before cutting. This guillotine had an electronic display with a key pad. my data was keyed in and the sheet of galvanized steel fed in to the stops and then cut to great precision; two such cuts were made then the strip was taken to the folding machine; the wider lip at 3/8" was easy to fold being within the machines lower folding limit but the narrower 1/8" lip could not be formed but at least I was a lot nearer. Before folding the strip was run over with an air abrasive disc to allow the subsequent layers of paint to stick. I asked how much I owed and was told to ask the boss which I did and the boss said £80; I'll pop in shortly with a box of "after eight's" for their trouble and to collect more offcuts. I folded the 1/8" lip at home very easily; wanting a rounded corner I planed a length of softwood and using a similar length of softwood nipped everything up in the large engineering vise securing the two ends with "G" cramps before tapping the lip over with a hammer.

The strip was then tested for fit before drilling for the three securing machine screws and finishing with grey undercoat and gold top coat auto lacquer.

I was going to paint the cabinet inside black and then add foil screening but am still unsure about doing this because it is more interesting to see the new veneer and all the new timber framing that has been added and this set will ever only be run for short periods anyway assuming I can restore the chassis.

I plan to add the "Ekco" logo to the metal strip but have been in shock over the last few days because the sun came out and the weather has been absolutely glorious in fact when I saw the large yellow ball appear in the sky I thought aliens had arrived. This is typical of my luck though; all during this cabinet restoration I've worked in dire conditions and immediately it is completed out comes the sun.

The cabinet restoration is now completed allowing me to fully concentrate on the chassis restoration. Thank you all once again for your continued support and kindness.

Kind regards, Col.
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Old 12th Apr 2011, 4:44 pm   #273
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Without wanting to sound rude Col, it looks like the work of an alchemist except that you have turned a base Ekco into a Dynatron
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Old 16th Apr 2011, 2:47 pm   #274
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Hi,

Many thanks Brian; I'm pleased it turned out well in the end and didn't go the other way being thrown into a skip.

With just an idea and a great amount of patience it just goes to show what can be achieved; It's not long ago I struggled with basic veneering and now I'm customizing cabinets. I sincerely hope I have encouraged others to have a go because it is fun and costs very little but gives immense satisfaction.

I'm now ready to start the chassis restoration having been very generously given a working LOPT with a perfect plastic enclosure by Mike from Cramlington. I can't thank Mike enough for this as it is extremely kind of him and he is a great ambassador to our hobby.

Kind regards, Col.
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