Leslie Cabinet

Work progresses on making a Leslie cabinet from one built in to an organ.  I removed the enclosure and basically shortened the width of the base of the organ.  I'm currently making a jack plate that will house the electric and inputs.

It's actually further along than this but I don't have any recent pictures.  It has a top and back.  I also have the crossover mounted, the input jack to the Leslie itself relocated and the jack plate almost completed.

Truetone D-696 - Detrola 175E Updates

More pictures.  Masking off for the darker stain.

Antenna Modifications

Here are some additional modifications to the antenna I made a few months ago...

I think adding the screen helped a little.  I can't say for sure.

Truetone D-696 - Detrola 175E

I picked this up last week thinking I would trash it and use the tubes for another project.  Once I got it home and realized that almost all of the parts were there, I decided that I would restore it instead.  This is a Truetone Model D-696 from 1938.  The actual radio is a Detrola 175E.  Check it out... (click on any picture for a closer look)

Here's what it looked like when I got it home...

The Speaker...

The Radio chassis...

 The magic eye tube...

Here is the radio chassis out of the cabinet.  What a mess.

Here it is all cleaned up...

On to fixing up the cabinet.  After a good cleaning, I glued and clamped up the parts that were broken off.  The next day, I stripped off the old finish.

 I need to do a bit more stripping and then on to sanding.

I happened to find a small remnant of the original grill cloth.  I'll be researching and trying to find a matching replacement.

I glued up some remaining loose pieces at the end the day.  The next day, I spent more time stripping and sanding.  With a little help in the decision making from my wife, I decided to go ahead and use a little stain to even all the coloring up.  We've decided to go ahead and make the two horizontal stripes and the vertical bars in front of the speaker darker than the rest of the radio.  I'll do that tomorrow.

Electric Mandolin Update IV

I'm done with the mandolin for now.  It turned out really nice.  I'm very happy with it.  I spent some time getting the intonation all set up and it plays beautifully.

Electric Mandolin Update III

I decided to do a french polish on the body of the mandolin.  I like the control I have over the finish and the repairability.  Here's what it looks like so far...

I plan to level the finish tonight and do another three french polish sessions.  After that, one final leveling and then a finish coat should complete it.

Electric Mandolin Update II

Here's what the body looks like with one coat of the final color...