I picke up this Admiral yesterday. I was warned that it might be a challenge to get the cabinet restored. Has anyone found a good way to refinish cabinets like this one?

Nice score :thmbsp:

I have the same set in similar condition. You can read about it and my finish experiments here: http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=246371

I recommend you avoid refinishing the whole cabinet and just repair any damaged areas. Especially if the only damaged is that missing chip on the front.

I plan on patching in the two damaged areas on mine, touching up a few worn areas and clear coating the hole thing with lacquer for protection.

I have a version of that set in Walnut. Very easy to work on, as 40s sets go. My cabinet had a similar chip in the veneer out of the frame, and a carefully cut piece of matching veneer took care of that.

Blonde finish can be tricky to recreate. Banderson has some excellent postings on this multilayered effect. A Google search on "limed oak" finish should also be helpful.

Bandersen, I've watched a number of your videos over the last year. Always enjoyable.

I'm always hesitant to refinish a cabinet. It's almost impossible to reproduce the aged look that makes these set interesting. I call it "patina" but in this case I a least need to replace the missing peace in the front. It's like having a tooth missing.

Your cabinet looks good. Your were saying that the only damage was on the top. How did it look after you refinished it. Do you have a photo or two of the restored area?

John

Nope, no pictures because I haven't touched my cabinet yet. Maybe in the fall I'll get to it. I have a 30A12 I want to tackle at the same time.

Find a small piece of red oak veneer that has similar grain. Then experiment with whitewash and amber shellac or yellow toneup lacquer until it looks right. Finally trim it to size and glue it in. That's my plan anyway.

Another option would be to fill that small veneer chip and then have someone with good artistic skills paint in the wood grain with oil paints. You'd be surprised how close someone with a good eye can match the surrounding area.

Kevin

First time I've heard that idea mentioned anywhere. I have a bit of an artistic touch and considered doing that. I honestly think I will give it a try and see how it goes. If it turns out I'll post some pictures. If I cant get a match I know an artist who can..

It's done all the time in retail furniture shops. There are even people that specialize in touch up in bigger cities.

The nice thing about oil paint, is that if you don't like the results, a little mineral spirits will wash it right off (before it dries) without messing up the surrounding finish.

Kevin

That style, to me, has always had a sort of delightfully "Odd" look to it...That said, I'd LOVE to have one-Blonde or dark, either one !

Just finished this one! It's a slightly older version of your blond Admiral; a 30B15-S model with a 30B1-S chassis(s). The main power supply and audio power amp are on a separate chassis from the picture/sound chassis. Boy, is this baby heavy! Puts out a great 10" picture (original crt) and the sound's not bad for a 6" dynamic speaker. People love this style. "Odd" isn't quite the right word though. How's "unique?"
ps: The picture is a real picture from the set.

Beautiful cabinet restoration and the picture look great too!. Where did you get the grill cloth? As I look at the set I see that it has the same knob set as mine. I mean that it has a metal band around the outer knobs on each set. Mine doesn't have the metal plate behind the channel knob though. I'm tempted to restore the whole cabinet on mine although I've been advised against it.
My only reservation is the large Admiral decal I haven't been able to find one of those anywhere. Did you restore the entire cabinet?. When I look at Bandersens set it looks like his has a bigger CRT than yours but it might just look that way in the picture. Also if you look at his Wheat, his knobs don't have the metal band around the outer knobs. I wonder if ther were several different versions of this same set. When you say your set is an older version I wonder because your CRT is bigger than the Wheat.. puzzleing questions.

Here is a good link on the Wheat cabinet restoration.

http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=119378&sid=6bb1e767171da78ead82d34fd82df611

John

Thanks for the compliments on the set restoration. The grill cloth is the original. All I did was to give it a good vacuuming. It's glued to the speaker board and therefore it would be hard to launder or dye so I left it alone.

The knobs on the set came with a lot of corrosion and I thought that the band was brass-plated steel. It turned out that they are solid brass cups with plastic inserts which just need a good buffing out.

The plate behind the channel knob is plastic with the numbers molded in. It's held in place with a U-shaped retainer spring. Behind this plate there are decal numbers. I think Admiral may have used this cabinet for the 30A15-S series than added this plate for the 30B15-S models.

As for the restoration itself, I had to be careful around the front bezel as I too didn't want to disturb the decals. The whole finish took about two weeks.

This model of chassis was designed to take 10, 12 and 16 inch crts with minor circuit changes, so it's entirely possible that you'll find other versions of the set with different picture tube sizes.

Good luck with your set!

I've had some good luck restoring a Motorola 9VT1 cabinet recently so I may venture off into restoring this Admiral cabinet. If and when I think I will use the DIY kit that's for sale on ebay. The seller sent me a few samples of the finishes with qualifiers that I will no doubt need more opacity. He's right the wheat sample he sent me doesn't match exactly. It needs more opacity. but he guarentees me that he has a very detailed procedure as to how to get the right finish. I think I'm game. the kit is around 45 bucks.. john

Another option would be to fill that small veneer chip and then have someone with good artistic skills paint in the wood grain with oil paints. You'd be surprised how close someone with a good eye can match the surrounding area.

Kevin

I agree that is a great way to fix but I think if it is a very special set that is would be worthwhile to get the same woodgrain in a veneer chip from another old set, etc. to color finish when glued in place.

I've had some good luck restoring a Motorola 9VT1 cabinet recently so I may venture off into restoring this Admiral cabinet. If and when I think I will use the DIY kit that's for sale on . The seller sent me a few samples of the finishes with qualifiers that I will no doubt need more opacity. He's right the wheat sample he sent me doesn't match exactly. It needs more opacity. but he guarentees me that he has a very detailed procedure as to how to get the right finish. I think I'm game. the kit is around 45 bucks.. john

Were you trying to link to Heywood Wakefield stain (http://cgi.ebay.com/refinish-WHEAT-stain-QUART-HEYWOOD-WAKEFIELD-/160562442520) ?

I thought about it too, but it looks to me like it obscures the grain too much. Not really the same as the original limed oak finish.

What would you do about the decals if you refinish it ?

Were you trying to link to Heywood Wakefield stain (http://cgi.ebay.com/refinish-WHEAT-stain-QUART-HEYWOOD-WAKEFIELD-/160562442520) ?

I thought about it too, but it looks to me like it obscures the grain too much. Not really the same as the original limed oak finish.

What would you do about the decals if you refinish it ?


I think the limed oak look comes from the red oak base. So any piece of vener that are missing have to be replaced with red oak. I just found a roll of it in my mom garage. It has probably been there for at least 40 years but it's still good. The decals are going to have to be protected. That set up the restoration. the front panel has to be the key to the refinish just like Ralph did. The challenge will be to match the front panel, not easy I know. I think I'll strip the entire cabinet save the front panel, then replace any missing vener. then follow the instruction on the DIY kit trying to match the front panel.

It's probably going to be one of the most challenging restorations I've ever done not because it would be all that hard to get a good looking set out it with a streight forward refinishing job but because I will be trying to match the front panel. I don't know anyone who sell that Admiral decal and I'm sure I couldn't reproduce it so it has to stay. If it has to stay the the whole front panel has to stay the way it is. If the front panel has to stay the way it is then I think the whole front has to stay the way it is. I think it would be very difficult to just save the front panel with the logo and try to match that with the other front parts. That leaves the sides and the top. What are the chances of matching the front to the sides and top...probably not that good.