The Nice Man Restores a Vintage 1939 Zenith Bakelite Radio! 

Ylu missed pointing out how you stained the filler to match the bakerlite

i just was given aold chief radio stock 4-a-25 and this helps but i didnt wanna have to sand and paint cuz i thought Sacrilege!! but I guess I'll have to. It doesnt work so I'll have to tinker with that too its one of the Cream colored ones its Pawesome! thanks for vid

Hi nice job, it looks great I have the same radio chassis but in a different cabinet, table side and I have the schematics but I cannot figure out what ballast tube goes in it. Can you look at yours and tell me the part/tube number? Thanks

Many people can repair and restore the vintage radios, but very little technicians who can clean it properly and turn it into zero In the whole case and the backlit machine just like the China plates after geting washed ! Who can do it is a ginues ! Very very little technicians who can dismental to repair and clean the vintage radio machines and assemble em again , who can do that is a truly genius, do you agree with me !

Kinda cool fact. In ww2 Both the USA and German military’s used Bakelite for knife handles And handgun grips, radios and com units for tanks. All around great early plastic that is cheap and effective. Great job man Love you’r work.

Try using simichrome polish. If you like the results you get with brasso, you’ll love what simichrome does. Works on metals and plastics

Great video, very cool. Is it safe to sand Bakelite without any protection? I have a pickguard for a guitar that id like to patina and relic, but I can’t find any info if it’s hazardous and dangerous to breath while sanding Bakelite.

Great video! How did you recolour the case after you filled it?

As a kid growing up in the 60s I used to see radio`s like this on the curb all the time. Too bad I could not have seen the future value in tube gear.

I fix tube radios as a hobby, usually wooden ones. Did you really pay $200? I find bakelite ones like that locally $5 to $40 . I could see if it had been fully restored and worked maybe paying $100 or more depending on the rarity and the look. That one is pretty art deco so would go for more than average. Ebay prices have gotten retarded for radios. I see people asking the moon for broken radios but they generally sit there until they wise up and lower the price. I have followed radios and eventually they start coming down after a month or so. I have followed a few hoping the price will go down because I like a particular radio, some people don't get it and after 3 to 4 years the radio still hasn't sold and they won't go down with 12 followers basically saying I want to buy it but I am not dumb. Some people think their broken am radio is this rare thing. Just because its old doesn't mean its gold. They made millions of table top radios in every size shape and color and the average person has no interest. A lot of people put them in the garage or attic as technology changed. I could see a new collector might be duped into paying way to much though thinking wow that's rare. I even but the big floor console radios for cheap. I go to second hand stores and the price will be $120 or whatever then I pass back every week or two and check and offer lower prices. After a month or so they realize not many people want these old radios especially not working. That's when I swoop in and they approach me and say " Are you still interested in that 1935 RCA console $40 cash its yours" The problem is like the RCA I am talking about I spent around $150 in parts to restore it. Now after $175 and 80 hours labor over a couple months of sanding, lacquering , buffing, soldering, troubleshooting, more soldering ,using test gear to do a factory alignment etc now you have a radio that looks and works like new and is worth $350-$400. You can still get any tube you want from tube dealers or ebay for not much money. If you are lucky all you will need to do is change all of the capacitors and out of spec resistors. Wish you wouldn't have painted the knobs ,kinda sacreligious . Cheers

Doug, what did you paint the plastic outer cover with? It looks great!

It would’ve been nice to see this come back to life.

Beautiful! I have just received one and I want to restore it. How do I take the knob off? Thanks.

the intro is funny as heck./. Great video in great detail; Absouletly gerat video,

I have that same radio just bought it yesterday and its still factory original in working order talk about good old engineering

Looks like a Radio from Vault Tec - Fallout (Computer Game).

Araldite is a UK product that is still very much available here in the UK. And you pronounced it wrong. The stress is on the first syllable, *_(Ar),_* not the second, *_(Ral)_* So it's: *_ARaldite,_* not *_aRALdite._* Great vid otherwise. >

Doug, have you ever repaired a back that had the t-pin area messed up? Is so, what did you do?

Informative, but I needed to know about the paint process - what type used, prep, etc.

"Nice" Job. Reminds me of This Old Tony but without the sarcasm.

I used Krylon on a radio cabinet & the finish is good. However, there is a small run on each side. If I wet sand it & tape the area off, I will have tape lines. How would you take care of this?

Doug, how did you hide the repaired cracks before painting? Did you use a primer before a finish coat?

Looks amazing