Another fine Murphy A30 up and running!

[MurphyNut]

This was a particularly enjoyable restoration as it went very well and I didn’t encounter any obstacles.
I obtained the set in good condition both internally and externally, but it refused to do much apart from quietly crackling when powered up.
I found it fairly original inside apart from an interesting mix of Capacitors that looked as if they were changed some years ago, I decided to replace these.
This is the first pre-war radio I’ve tackled (it dates from 1936) and the “Condenser Bank” was new to me. Luckily I’d asked a few questions beforehand and with the help from members here I was able to workout how to wire up the new components properly.
I decided not to empty the old bank and put the capacitors inside as this Block is not seen with the back off the set. So I soldered the capacitors onto tags and they happily sit out of sight doing their work.
I cleaned all the contacts and switches with the magic spray and replaced the mains lead with a vintage style one.
It now works incredibly well on both MW and LW and I’ve been enjoying it all week.
The cabinet was very easy to sort out as the front is a flat panel and the sides/top painted black, I left these as the eye doesn’t really focus on that part of the radio and the condition was fairly good. So I just removed the varnish from the front and French polished it.
I’m starting to appreciate the virtues of French polishing as it seems to give a more natural and less brash finish than a solvent based varnish. It takes a bit of getting used too but its well worth the effort.
Three of the knobs were badly chipped but lucky I had spares and this further enhanced the look of this pretty set.
Hope you enjoy the pictures.

[Tractionist]

Nice - the French Polishing looks great .... well done!

Splendid job, it is quite amazing how capacitors have shrunk over the years. I restuffed a Philips 2531 capacitor block with polyester ones, lots of room left and they will never (well hardly ever, to quote Mr Higgins) go wrong.

[MurphyNut]

I've started my next radio a Murphy A34, it's untouched and has all it's original wax capacitors, most of them are nearly as big as AA batteries!
You could actually hollow them out and insert new polyester ones inside, going a bit far?

[McMurdo]

Nice job, these are my kind of radio. I'd have thought the contrasting veneer was a daring detail for the average 1930's wireless customer to take in and I wonder how many people thought it in bad taste?!

[MurphyNut]

I think the contrasting veneer at the bottom is a nice touch, without it the set would look rather bland. R.D. Russell knew what he was doing!