Scott Find with Surprise

[Dave]

I recently sourced this Super 12 horror show from barnyard of original Alpena owner on the shores of Lake Huron. Pictures paint a thousand words, dry rotted feet to the first bead, top so warped I had to steam it to pieces and reassemble. Manure vapors had indelible affect to overall patina, no effort to lighten, succeeeded, so finished on the “tan” side.

Evidence of vermin activity is norm, this one didn’t disappoint, I was delighted with period papers shimming main chassis. Sorry if contents offend, illuminating evidence contrary to difficult times. 

All was complete, Arcturus blue even the 45s, thanks to Dave Poland the Wunderlich resides. Very melodious set, suited well for vocals.

Enjoy my labor of love.

[mike hadley]

Nicely done, the cabinet has responded well to your efforts, just goes to show what can be done.

Mike

[Ken Carr]

Very nicely done! I may be going through this eventually. I have a Scott Allwave Deluxe with a nasty cabinet. Some of the trim is sticking off at a 30 degree angle and is quite brittle. I assume you had stuff like that too?

Did you just let the steam hit the wood and then gently push it back in place? Any hints would be appreciated.

[Dave]

Have a look Ken, top was real bad and you must be careful for that veneer layer at top. I suspended top midline over a full length strip of 2” wood, then loaded weight either end of a 8” board laying across bottom( curved side up). I had an open legged metal table allowing me to set up a Coleman propane camp stove heating a pot of water and covered the whole sha-bang like a tent as tight to the floor as I could get it. Whole process took about 45 minutes then let dry after cleaning up some residue with putty knife. Even with this I found what was a full piece of top veneer, ended up shrunk about an 1/8”. After the 3 or 4 boards were glued up the top was almost flat, negligible 32” remain between middle boards. If I had a large jointer I would have flattened the small cupping but overall it’s not noticeable. I dried pieces a good month in a dry winter climate and must admit I still got  small hairline cracks in lacquer at the curved edge. Heck, looks good and antique. If I knew it was going to move slightly I would have done more than sealer and Lacquer. There’s Mohawk “Easy Vinyl” sealer I often use on curved veneered surfaces, like poly it stretches with movement so is friendly to the lacquer top coat. For severe surface breaks I’ve paste filled especially sharp columns, I will use polyurethane, then topcoat with lacquer friendly dewaxed shellac before laying down the lacquer topcoats. The front of the Zenith 267 and flush mating surfaces so common to Midwest, my DD comes to mind. It’s a trick and it works, finished surface is indistinguishable from multiple lacquer coats that don’t serve to cure compromised veneers. 

[Ken Carr]

Great photos and technique. The top on my cabinet is nearly perfect. It is the sides and the applied trim that are the main problem areas. 

Also all the veneer covering the 'feet' was gone and some of the base wood that made up the feet was entirely missing. I was able to copy what was there and fabricate a new base and cover it with new veneer.

I like your tent idea. Thanks for the hints.

[David C. Poland]

Dave - quite a saga. All's well that ends well. Nice result. Blue tubes is a bonus. Glad you have it done and working. My AW-12 is a solid player and sensitive.

Ken - You have quite a journey ahead.  Good luck. I have an AW-15 in my Wellington radio-phono cabinet. And you will be pleased  when you are done with yours. Do you have the Capehart model 10 changer Scott supplied at the time for the phono drawer?

If the veneer on the sides will lay flat, then I have had success with  Franklin brand Titebond Genuine Liquid Hide Glue, which is compatible with the original glue used. So scraping away the old glue is not necessary other than to scrape it smooth as needed. The substrata is glued boards and I hope they are still flat. You may be able to avoid the step of removing the veneer before gluing it again.  This glue is slower setting so you have a a bit of working time. And then it must be clamped or weighted down.  Do one area at a time over a few days. The bottom veneer on the cabinet base is vulnerable to ripping loose by pushing around on carpet. I had to replace some base veneer on my Wellington - it is walnut applied with the grain vertical.

Dave Poland, Scott Radio Collector and Historian

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[Ken Carr]

Dave - Thanks for the hint regarding the glue. I am always looking for materials that other people found to be useful. Regarding the feet I did notice the vertical grain but decided to go with horizontal rather than cross cut smaller sections of veneer. I'm at a pause with it right now … spent a bunch of time fixing radios for friends. I'm also working on some Buick car radios. I tend to jump around so it takes me quite a while to finish a project.

The chassis on the all wave … I have filament voltage but need to work out the B+ which does not seem to be there. That big multipart resistor appears to be at fault … that and some monkey business in the power supply. When I get going on that again I'll be back with questions as usual.

This radio (a gift from a friend who moved and could not take all 40 years of junk with him) does not have any record changer. I do have a more modern one that I could slip in there.

David

Ken - You have quite a journey ahead.  Good luck. I have an AW-15 in my Wellington radio-phono cabinet. And you will be pleased  when you are done with yours. Do you have the Capehart model 

[Keith Lowe]

Dave, I thought you were downsizing.

Keith

[Dave]

Somewhat Keith, come by this summer and have a listen to the now tricked out 800b, hearing is believing. The factory mod placing 5e 5600ohm series resistor was for isssues it created with TV , this killed the tone stack, and has now been removed. All kinds of smooth low bass now, especially with a respectable 3 way EV, original Jensen was the biggest drawback, PA quality at best, no excursion, no air. Moral of the story, put the tone stack with original choke control back to work !!!