1946 STC 548 Timber Tube Radio Restoration Part 3 - Final 

Dear Sir, I am in awe! “With what exactly?” You may ask. Well with everything... First of all your restorations, knowledge and skills. But equally important, your videos themselves. Your have a naturally “soothing voice.” This (a.o.) makes your uploads extremely relaxing to watch. Almost therapeutical. That is, obviously, in addition to the content of your videos. It is a real story, each and every time; An old broken radio enters the scene, which is then slowly converted in an excellent functional “piece of art.” I am not very knowledgeable in the “arts” but can make out the very distinct early 20th century styles. Art Deco, Bauhaus and post WW-2 Modernism, to name a few. Finally, in case “your shelf” has to make place for your latest masterpiece, please be advised that I would be very keen to purchase one of your “projects,” IF (!) you ever were inclined to part with one. Money is not really an issue. Neither are the shipping cost from Australia to Europe. Looking forward to your next upload, Yours sincerely, Paul P.s. I just read you are not selling your projects. I fully understand! “One does not sell one’s children...” Please disregard my enquiry in this respect.

My daughter's got some shampoo in the bathroom called Aussie Repair Miracle. I'm sure it was named after you. Another beautiful job.

Actually glad that that brown wrinkled up! The black looks perfect! Matches the knobs and bezel perfectly And it even works well to boot! Bravo!

I bet, it might not be so beautiful at the time of its manufacturing....beautifully restored..👍📻

Mr. Tipton, I love restorations, but I never have watched radios. Thought I would be bored because I know nothing about them. You have a new fan. I sat through the first hour, waited patiently for part 2, and frantically waited for part 3! I had a blast learning and watching! Thanks so much for all your hard work. I feel your pain with the paint on the corners. Been there many times with other wood projects! Nice job hanging in there to find what works. Here's to many more!

What a beautiful cabinet restoration Dave, really really nice work. The entire chassis and cabinet look better than new in my opinion. I also know you wanted the brown, but the black looks amazing, such gorgeous contrast. Such a beautiful piece of history and sounds awesome.

All your restorations are great, but this one really is a one-of-a-kind gem. Would envy anyone lucky enough to have it for a desk accessory.

Watched through all the 3 parts of restoration of STC548... The only word come in my mind is WOOOOOW..... AMAZING.....

All I can say is WOW!! Your attention to detail is really refreshing. Still binge watching. Love em all. Nice touch with the old time radio shows. Groucho me thinks.

Your STC 548 is now a first class example of its kind. It has most certainly been a pleasure watching you restore this radio. Thank goodness there are more restorations to come, Here in the UK, STC manufactured the Kolster Brande marque. They became part of ITT. Theses days we no longer hear of STC, K B, or ITT. Cheers my friend, Phil.

Hi David. Another great restoration to your very high standards. One of the reasons I like your channel so much is that you get to see a lot of interesting radio's that we never got here in the UK. Keep safe and well. Chris.

I doubt the radio looked this good when it was new from the factory!! Magnificent job.

Now that is a lovely result. I'm amazed by your ability in all aspects of this restoration. Thank you for a lovely video series.

David, you wear so many hats and skills, Radio repairs, Woodwork, then a bit metalwork for and aerial. Another great video mate for showing how you can make your old radios look fantastic. Cheers David best to you and your wife and family.

Dave once again a brilliant repair/restoration. A vintage wood cabinet tube radio brought back to life; it not only looks great, but sounds superb. 2 thumbs up. :-)

*_This is invaluable. It's a little bit of a life for you. If I could rule the world, you David would live forever._*

Great job David. I really enjoy your restorations.

Well done Dave - your repair ability is only exceeded by your patience to get things right! Impressive!

Smooth job David. I love your banter while you are working like "...well I didn't expect that..." My wife was watching "Call the Midwife" (not my sort of programme) so I came down to the computer and imagine my joy when I found that you had posted the last part of your current restoration. Looking forward to the next job.

How beautiful. What a difference that new acrylic has made to the dial, stunning. The black paint highlights match the knobs so it all ties in. It always amazes me how much labour must have gone into manufacturing these sets back then. They must have been very expensive to produce. Cheers.

Amazing job again. A pleasure to see the cabinet work. I became exhausted with all the elbow-grease you put into it :)

I've had a great time catching up with this one...what a fabulous job...like a poster of over a year ago "I am in awe"...

I really love the look of that radio. You did a fantastic job. I,m learning a bit about finishes and little tricks you do. It,s fun to watch!

Well I must say that radio came out beautifully. You are the best restorer of radios on the net, in my opinion.

Looks Great! The dial glass really made a huge difference! Thank you for taking the time to share...

That was a joy to watch you restore that beautiful radio, give yourself a pat on the back for this one 🍺🍺🍺👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Very cool! I love going back to some of your earlier videos to see how far you have come in refinishing. This one came out fantastic like most. Some of them look almost like dumpster candidates yet when you are done they look like they belong on the shelf of an old time radio shop for sale to my father and mother for our old farm home, now but a pile of lumber having been abandoned since 1962, built the year dad was born, 1910.

It is a pleasure to watch your meticulous restorations.

The dial looks terrific Dave. I enjoyed watching this series.

Beautiful job David. I especially liked the speaker repair and the new lense replacement. John

Lot'a work on the case...nice job David!

Very nice restoration work David. I could see you had many trials and tribulations getting that cabinet to look as nice as it does. Perseverance and hard work pays off every time. Thanks for a totally enjoyable series.

Looking a little bit better than when you got it is an understatement! This radio came out grand. As a matter of course I refuse to have a broadcast reciever in my shack but I would make an exception with this one. Bravo. 73's M0OMO

Wow, I think this one is my favourite repair you have done up to now, the perspex idea was spot on. Deffo a good tip to try.

A fine restoration! Cabinet and chassis. So glad you decided to replace the electrolytic filter caps after all.

This has got to be the most amazing restoration of a radio I have ever seen! Not only that but the radio works and sounds probably much better than when it was brand new! All I can say is "WOW" fantastic David.....what amount of work you have put into this radio! Walt in Miami

Absolutely superb; you're a multi-talented craftsman, David. Thank you for such an interesting video.

Thanks for the therapy you applied to us. You created a very beautiful piece of art again, David.

That is just beautiful. WOW. Great job. You should do a video where you build a radio from scratch. That would very cool to watch.

Hi Dave, What a great job. And I reckon Dave Jeffery's comments are spot on too.

Love the noise your tools make - nice soundtrack of your video

Spectacular restoration there David. I like how the clear dial plate turned out. It is one heck of a fiddly bit that many under size and look odd. Yours fit perfectly! Restoring wood cabinets is best left to those who do woodwork, it doesn't matter to them if it's a radio,chair,or desk. Luckily I was doing woodworking before attempting electronics repairs and it does take a bit of a learning curve to excell at both. I say well done sir!

Beautiful! I loved laying in front of my radio in the dark back in the day. Mesmerized by the bar movement. Say, maybe that explains some of my "quirks" today.... Ha!

I take my Hat off to you David ,out standing high quality job as always ,The cabinet came up a real gem supper job, and always amazed by your excellent standards of workmanship,Well done .

David, i guess by now you must have one of the best radio collections of anyone. I guess museums have you beat but i suspect your collection stands above other private collectors and for good reason. They guy that refurbishes your radios is very good at his trade. This one is awesome. Great looking radios like this must stand out, even in your fabulous collection.

A wonderful job done. The set looks really nice and performs really well. Thanks for posting

Having watched all three episodes, it amazes me the time effort and love you put into restoring these wonderful old radios. You are probably getting fed up with me keep saying it but I do enjoy watching the process you go through to bring them back to as near perfect as you can. Even my wife enjoys watching. 🍻👍

Excellent restoration job sir.

Your perspex experiment was perfect. I have a Zenith dial cover that has yellowed badly. Now I have an idea of what to try. Thanks.

Beautiful job David, well done!

Excellent restoration David.. I am jealous.. wish it was my radio! Well Done!

Very, very well done, David!

Really turned out nice David. Nice job.

Your best guess is better than my knowledge , Great Job Dave spot on. !

Superb "dial" on this one. Beautiful job!

great clean job always look forward to viewing your restorations

Happy accidents! The black looks SO MUCH BETTER David. GJ, I'd be pulling my hair out with the unintentional wrinkle effect 😂

Feels like I've waited longer for this third instalment than I did for Return of the Jedi :) Great job, that one was 'ratty', now it's a gem

Great restoration. A pleasure to watch.

Thanks David, to me this is the nicest table radio in your collection. A fantastic restoration and thanks for the dial shot, the glass and your lens looked fabulous!

Absolutely beautiful restoration. I am in awe of your talent and patience!

Gorgeous! The black sets it off.

Beautiful David. The Black trim may not be original but I think it looks much better then the brown, nice contrast. Well done. David you are a amazing for someone that calls himself a novice. Your a Woodworker, Machinist, Technician and Artist. Great work again. Joe

Another wonderful project! Thanks so very much for sharing with us David! As always, an excellent job!!

Been waiting to see how the finished cabinet came out and you didn't disappoint with it as usual. you've done another wonderful job there and it looks and sounds beautiful. well done. look forward to your next project :-)

Great David, another fantastic restoration. I am really enjoying watching your dedication, skill and patience bringing these fine old radios back to life. Keep up the great work!

A really good result! Colour and finish looks great on camera. Very interesting to see how you overcame the problems on the way, as well as the bits that worked first time.

Beautiful work on that case.

Very nice restore. Thanks for sharing with us.

Wonderful radio. I can imagine someone will stick an antenna on the roof and listen all over the world in the evening. Great job. You almost gave me a heart attack when you said that if the video goes black the staple went through the cabinet and then you blacked out the video!

This cabinet is really beautiful and was so worthy of your expertise. David, Top job once again. "Just DO IT!!" I really enjoy your skills both in the shop and your editing.

Hi David, I love wooden radios and am I slowly getting around to restoring the ones I have, I find your insights and experimentation are immensely valuable to me and mirror how I love to restore radios. I know you were concerned about having to go black on the trim, but I actually liked that finish and quite a few of the radio's I have in fact have the black rim as original from the factory of the era. I was not sure if those stc knobs were brown or black but they seemed to match, beautifully the trim from the video. Great Work and thank you for sharing. George

That radio looks amazing.

A truly stellar job! One of the best restorations I have seen on RU-vid.

Great job David. I don't have the patience to deal with the peeling paint issue you had. I normally do the finishing work in the garage to keep people from hearing my foul language when I see the first results...LOL Excellent work sir!

That dial looks fantastic

Just catching up on your catalog of videos. Your restorations look better on the inside than mine do on the outside!

Absoutely superb! Probably has a better finish than when it was new!

That is a real beauty David!

Excellent again. Love the Perspex fabrication! Personally I like the black, very contrasting to the brown stain and wood grain. You are a magician when it comes to the complete radio. I will also try out the smoother. Should save me applying many coats of varnish followed by sanding. On the speaker, I had a Westinghouse H-135 Refrigerator radio with many cracks and slices in the cone. I painted the entire speaker with rubber contact cement. The paper absorbed the glue and became a one piece cone again. Sounds fantastic also. Yes, hamster cage coarse cedar shavings. I use a very wet gel stripper. Leave it on for the requisite time. Use the cedar shavings like you would use steel wool. Scrape if necessary and then clean up with more cedar shavings. Rubbing them in with moderate force. The cedar is softer then the veneer so it doesn’t mar the surface, and very absorptive. Makes clean up easy. Follow it up with a lacquer or mineral spirits wipe Thanks again for the lessons and ideas!

Another great restoration David, looking forward to the next

Well done David, its great you show mistakes in your video's so we can all learn by them:-) Keep up the great work and videos. Many thanks:-)

Another work of Art Dave !!! Anybody would be happy to have it in their collection !! Well done !!

It certainly doesn’t look like a giant Easter egg anymore. What you did with the Perspex was genius. I know with today’s car headlights that have dulled you can bring them back to new by using different grades of wet and dry paper before polishing. Whether or not that would have worked with what you had, I’m not sure. Really nice job David.

A restoration class, wonderful job! Congratulations and thanks for sharing.

For getting glue pulled all the way into cracks or gaps like you were doing on the corners, I like to use a vacuum cleaner on the back side of the crack to help pull the glue down through. Works like a charm.

The radio turned out great! Your videos are very entertaining.

Excellent job David the radio looks really great.......................................................Berni

Wow, that’s a marvellous restoration David. You’d never know the dial glass is now acrylic, the original was like a cataract. The description of that gain control sounds like AGC delay, unusual in AM radios but common in TVs. It basically sets where the the AGC starts to take effect and allows maximum gain for a slightly stronger signal.

As usual, a first rate restoration job David. you certainly go more than the extra mile! The most recent radio cabinet (1947) I stripped it using kitchen roll doubled up and laid on the surface. I then thoroughly soaked it in alcohol and then covered it in plastic wrap. The plastic wrap prevents the alcohol from evaporating. Left it for an hour. I wasn't really expecting it to do much but I could scrape the old varnish off although it did take 2 attempts with the towel/alcohol. It would be more effective using acetone or brush cleaner but that stuff is a lot more expensive than strong bio ethanol. BTW i tried that grain filler a few years ago. Wasn't really to my liking but everyone finds grain filling a bit of a pain. It's worse when you come back to it a year later and find that it's all sunk a little.

Excellent Sir .I have no words for appreciation.Great Job.

Baking a new scale glass from plexi with a home-made molding... that's a whole new level of restoration jobs! Amazing skills there! Beautiful outcome! Some would've just left the cracks and slight imperfections in the cabinet fittings as they are, but no, not you, you're a perfectionist! :D

Beautiful radio. You did a truly splendid job on it. I admire your patience and attention to the details. Hey - have you ever watched any of the videos by a RU-vidr named "glasslinger?" Prepare for the unorthodox. But there are some very interesting and clever things to learn.

Great job David! For something like the dial glass I make a female form (cutout) and use it as a cover to an air tight box with a vacuum pump. Then i heat it with a heat gun slowly. sometimes you can use the original as the mold positive depending on what it is made of like copying a complex metal shape to plastic.

Fantastic restoration,I love how you made the new dial glass,excellent choice of speaker cloth. You had the patience of a saint with the cabinet,well done,love it.

With every one of your videos I learn something. That dial glass process, absolutely fabulous. Charlie in Virginia USA

Great David, absolutely great. As always, the best bits saved for last! Thank you for another great video.

It shows you enjoy this. It is amazing!

Outstanding job. Looks great.

You’re a super talented guy! I love your videos! Thank you for all the work that goes into this!