Wireless Set No. 52 Canadian - Project

[Bob Carriere]

....lots of work before it appears inits original shade of gray/grey.

Not sure I would venture myself at tooth brushing the internal parts.

I would most likely do like Bruce and start with mild detergents/soap to see how that works then proceed, in safe areas, with some of the solvent based cleaners. Not an easy task .........

Cheers

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

....lots of work before it appears inits original shade of gray/grey.

Not sure I would venture myself at tooth brushing the internal parts.

I would most likely do like Bruce and start with mild detergents/soap to see how that works then proceed, in safe areas, with some of the solvent based cleaners. Not an easy task .........

Cheers

Any polish is going to have abrasives in it which will work at the original surface to some degree. Better dissolve and clean off the gunk without touching the surface you want to preserve if you can. Or polish off the original surface just enough to get a consistent colour and varnish the snot out of it.

[David Dunlop]

True enough, Bruce.

I was a little concerned at the extent of the discolouration on the Sender panel when I first saw photos of it, and once it arrived. After its initial clean and a closer examination, my impression is the front panel can be saved. There may end up being a couple of dime sized paint chips along the perimeter, but I can live with that.

I do not want an original Navy Grey Gloss finish at all. I much prefer some degree of varnish patina that naturally developed with this equipment and I am leaning towards the look of the upper panel on the main set receiver.I think that will be attainable, or very close to it with polish and elbow grease and a lot of patience, when the time comes to do the work on the Sender.

I have been toying with the idea of finally committing to a polishing kit for my Dremel. My hands are not as durable as they used to be, but I have the Winter to think on it.

David

[David Dunlop]

Thought I would post another update photo of the collective project now that 80% of the main set components are now assembled.

Just the Carrier No. 4 delivery to sort out now.

David

[David Dunlop]

This is almost a simple topic as only one modification shows up in the listing I have for the Sender. Naturally, it is Modification No, 1, for the installation of the modification card holder.

This is where the 'almost' above comes in.

The instructions state a metal plate is to be removed from the left rear corner of the chassis, holes to be drilled into the plate, the holder attached and the plate returned to its position on the chassis. Problem is, there is no metal plate on the chassis in that location, either on the rear or left side of the chassis. I checked the Sender chassis I have and all the photos of the Sender in the manual. No such plate.

There is no room at all on the top of the chassis to mount a card holder and I could see nothing anywhere when looking through the chassis. Curiosity got the better of me finally and as a last resort, I carefully turned the chassis over to have a look at the bottom. There it was, as per the attached photo. And there was a modification card inside stating the modification was done in 1947, but no mention of the Shop where the work was done.

David

[David Dunlop]

I have not really detailed out the parts sequence for restoration work on this project just yet. The Carrier No. 4 still needs to be looked at up close once it arrives, but other than that, all I know so far is the first priority will be to finish work on the two receivers. That work is already three quarters completed, so best follow through with it.

My suspicion is the Supply Unit may end up being the last item tackled. I still have two single conductor connector cables to find for the main set and until they are found, I do not want to risk damage to the Sender, Supply Unit or both by ad hocing anything foolish. So buying more time by restoring the supply last makes sense from that perspective.

I was initially hoping the panel of the Supply Unit could be polished back down to the right shade of paint patina to blend in with the two receivers, but now that I have cleaned the grime off and had a closer look, that will no longer be possible.

First, too much paint is completely gone from the bottom of the panel. Nearly an inch, and in that same area, the bottom inch of the Receiver Vibrator Supply Module has been bent inwards just enough that it will have to be tooled carefully back to straight. I don’t think there is enough ‘careful’ available in the paint to prevent it from spalling off when that work is done.

The final factor in deciding on a complete restore of the supply panel was the discovery of just how incredibly sloppy the decal application work was during its 1966 shop refurbishment. Take a look at the attached factory photo of the supply decals from the manual, and compare it to the work done on this supply. Yikes!

I think some good water transfer decal software is on the horizon for me at some point.

David

[Grant Bowker]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

I think some good water transfer decal software is on the horizon for me at some point.

I recall reading about creating water transfer deals by printing. One issue is with printing white - most printers rely on white paper rather than actually printing white so you either need to find one of the rare printers that deposits white to the page or print on transfer film that has white background (and cover every scrap that you don't want to show white (including around the edges)).