Waverley Grande Cabinet

[Fran Mayer]

Hi,
I have decided to go the route of building a cabinet for my All-Wave 23. Although it may be one of the more common cabinets I believe that the Waverley Grande is located just within the outermost boundary of my woodworking ability, and I find the “Swedish Moderne” styling and cabinet proportions very pleasing. I plan on including a Garrard RC88 changer within the cabinet as that is a unit that I am familiar with and should not be too difficult to procure. I am currently in the planning stages for the cabinet.
I have a “rough idea” of the dimensions of this cabinet, but was wondering if any member owning a Waverly-Grande might be able to supply some actual dimensions for the cabinet? I believe that I only need 5 or 6 dimensions to be able to start laying pencil to paper (however, the general rule of - the best laid plans of mice and men – may take precedence  ).
The will be an adaptation but I would like to keep it as close to the original as possible.
Thanks very much,
Fran

[Scott Seickel]

I have a Waverly AW-23 cabinet.  Only difference that I know of is that the Grande version is a bit taller to accommodate the record player.  Would you like some measurements of this?

[Fran Mayer]

Hi Scott,

Thank you for your offer. Yes, I would be most appreciative if you might be able to provide the following dimensions:

1.  The overall height of the cabinet

2.  The overall depth of the cabinet

3.  On the front of the cabinet, the height of the cabinet between the top of the speaker grill/control panel molding to the bottom of the cabinet top molding (See dimension no. 3 below for an illustration).

4.  The width of either side or top of the grille molding (See dimension no. 4 below for an illustration).

5-6. The length and width of the "waterfall molding thingie" that is positioned over the speaker grille (See dimension no. 5 6 below for an illustration)

7.  The inside depth of the record changer compartment from the top of the mounting board to the top of the cabinet edge molding. I am sorry, but I don't have an illustration for this.

I believe that These dimensions will allow me to complete the drawings needed to construct the set.

I thank you very much

[Scott Seickel]

I did take some dimensions before you responded.  I traced the bottom and top lid profiles and scribbled some dimensions on paper.  It was difficult getting a clean trace as my cabinet is a bit chewed up, but you should have no problem extracting the correct profile.  Print it out on 8.5" x 11" paper and it should be to correct scale.  See attached PDF file below. 

My cabinet is the Grande version, which I was not realizing....too early in the morning.  It is in my storage area because the veneer is shot.  

I will get you the other dimensions you ask for when I have a free moment. 

img030.pdf

[Scott Seickel]

Your request for dimension #3 is not attached.  Could you please resend it as I am not sure exactly what you are looking for. 

[Fran Mayer]

Yes, I just realized that 3 did not load. Here it is,

Scott thank you for the dimensions!

Fran

[Fran Mayer]

Scott this is perfect!

Thank you very much.

Scott Seickel said:

I did take some dimensions before you responded.  I traced the bottom and top lid profiles and scribbled some dimensions on paper.  It was difficult getting a clean trace as my cabinet is a bit chewed up, but you should have no problem extracting the correct profile.  Print it out on 8.5" x 11" paper and it should be to correct scale.  See attached PDF file below. 

My cabinet is the Grande version, which I was not realizing....too early in the morning.  It is in my storage area because the veneer is shot.  

I will get you the other dimensions you ask for when I have a free moment. 

img030.pdf

[Fran Mayer]

Scott,

Could you answer an additional piece of information?

The cabinet is walnut veneer. However, I believe that the moldings are not walnut (the grille surround, base and perhaps the molding just underneath the lid).

I believe that they might be red gum or poplar stained walnut. your thoughts?

Fran 

[mike hadley]

Fran,

Apparently the moldings are red gum, that's going to be like hens teeth to find, how about one of the african hardwoods like bubinga or sapele,

Mike

[Fran Mayer]

Mike,

Yes I agree, red gum will be difficult if not impossible to find. Thank you for your suggestion of bubinga or sapele.

Fran

[David C. Poland]

FYI - from 1937 Scott price list for the pre-Philharmonic AW-23 cabinet. : 

The standard size Waverly  40 tall, 27.5 wade & 15 deep.

The Waverly Grande - sized to accommodate a record changer in top. 45 tall, 27.5 wide and 17 deep. However, I have seen 3 versions of the Waverly including two slightly different of the larger Grande cabinet.

The cabinet veneer is figured Walnut per cabinet brochure. 

Popular may work well enough for the base and other trim - just use toning lacquer to get the color.

AS for proportions, you could get a photo from the Scott cabinet folder of this site's archive and use an overhead projector to project on a wall. Position the projector to produce an image of correct dimensions and take some measurements.

As for the Garrard - depends on the pickup and AW-23 version. The early 5 knob used seems to require a higher output cartridge, while the 7 knob seems ok with a lower output cartridge - based on my exerience using a Sony Walkman CD player into the phono posts. The early 5 knob injects phono AFTER the volume control, in which case you need to arrange an external radio/phono switch and volume control. 

Good luck on your project.

[Scott Seickel]

Ok, dimension #3 above is 7". 

The cabinet depth is 17-1/2" total depth.

The "thingy" as you call it in front of the speaker is 3-3/4" wide and 20-5/16" tall.  The slots on it are 3/8" thick. 

Depth to record player shelf, from main cabinet top (not lid top) is 5". 

The moulding going into the recess in front shows looking square to the cabinet 1-1/4".

I took pictures with a ruler laying across the cabinet in each direction.  PM me with your private email address if you would like them.  Each pic is nearly 2mb. 

[Fran Mayer]

Dave,

Thank you very much. Scott Seickel measured his Waverley Grand and got 48 1/8" for a height, one of the variations. I imagined that the width would be the same for either cabinet and supposed that the depth would need to be increased for the phono equipment, as you said - 15" on the standard to 17" for the Grande. Those dimensions will work

I am still deciding on the wood to use for the trim. 

As this set is of the later 7 knob variety I will not have the issues with volume associated with the 5 knob. I plan on using a GE Variable Reluctance cartridge and am planning on using a GE preamp, but we will see just what the future brings.

Fran