Motorola 12K2 restoration

[bandersen]

I found purple streamers running between a yoke wire and the flyback under the chassis. I moved the wire away and no more ozone

I swapped out the 6SN7 horizontal and 25L6 vertical tubes. The picture became much more stable and all the vertical issues disappeared

[bandersen]

I scored an original owners manual in very good condition on ebay. Here's the front cover. I'll scan the whole thing to a pdf soon.

[miniman82]

Lookin good, Bob!

All those B&W sets... why not put your expertise to work on a color one soon? Plenty out there that need attention, though you'll soon need a larger apartment (years ago actually).

[Phil Nelson]

What a wonderful cover photo on that manual. And notice the dimly lit room with backlighting -- the right way to enjoy vintage TVs.

Phil Nelson

P.S. Nice picture, too.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by miniman82

Lookin good, Bob!

All those B&W sets... why not put your expertise to work on a color one soon? Plenty out there that need attention, though you'll soon need a larger apartment (years ago actually).

I suppose I will someday but I still have about 20 B&W TVs and 10 radios to get to. Most are far more interesting than this set but I figure it's good practice.

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

What a wonderful cover photo on that manual. And notice the dimly lit room with backlighting -- the right way to enjoy vintage TVs.

Phil Nelson

P.S. Nice picture, too.

I think the cover is fantastic too. I used to think my picture tubes were weak until I realized that you really do need to view them in a dim room.

I'm not putting on a suit though

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by bandersen

I started on that cluster last night. Fun is right I've found evidence of a few crude repairs including some 6AG5s in 6AU6 sockets.

Are you sure those 6AG5's don't belong there? Motorola always had a lot of production changes on their products. Check the original tube layout diagram, if present.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

Are you sure those 6AG5's don't belong there? Motorola always had a lot of production changes on their products. Check the original tube layout diagram, if present.

I know what you mean. There are some flavors of the TS-4X chassis that use 3 6AG5s and some use 3 6AU6s in the IF stages.

There's a photo of the original tube layout on the first page of this thread. There should only be one 6AG5 - it's the 3rd IF stage.

[bandersen]

One of my Flickr friends scanned this Motorola ad showing the very similar 12K1 model.


Motorola Ad by oldradios, on Flickr

[bandersen]

I'm finally done stripping and patching up the cabinet. The trim turned out to be harder to reproduce than I had figured.

Initially, I tried to cut pieces out in a continuous zig-zag using a utility knife, veneer saw and dremel tool. I had trouble keeping it uniform and had some breakage.



So, I changed tactics and cut out small segments instead. All it takes is scoring the veneer with a sharp utility knife and pieces can be snapped off.



Then, I carefully glued it down on the cabinet.


I can finally start putting on the new finish

[JCFitz]

You make cabinet work look so easy. I wish it came that easy to me.
Wanna make a trip out to Maryland and reveneer a jukebox?

I got a Wurlitzer 1400 that the veneer is really bad on and a Seeburg C that the preferred method of restoration is to cover the entire cabinet in white oak veneer as the original finish was printed and very few survive at all because of the rough treatment jukeboxes get.

The task just seem daunting to me compared to the rest of the restoration which comes easily to me since I've worked on electronics every day for over 21 years. Working with wood not so much except making a few projects back in shop at school out of real woodl.Never veneer.

[VintagePC]

Originally Posted by JCFitz

You make cabinet work look so easy. I wish it came that easy to me.
Wanna make a trip out to Maryland and reveneer a jukebox?

I got a Wurlitzer 1400 that the veneer is really bad on and a Seeburg C that the preferred method of restoration is to cover the entire cabinet in white oak veneer as the original finish was printed and very few survive at all because of the rough treatment jukeboxes get.

The task just seem daunting to me compared to the rest of the restoration which comes easily to me since I've worked on electronics every day for over 21 years. Working with wood not so much except making a few projects back in shop at school out of real woodl.Never veneer.

Veneering isn't quite as daunting as it seems.
Did my 4068 with oak veneer last summer. My first veneer project, but I had an experienced hand to help.
Managed it myself for the most part, but the second person was helpful for the large sheets.

A good tip is to use yellow carpenter's glue. Spread it with an old credit card or so on both sides, then apply, cover with brown or wax paper, a sheet of something flat (plywood, acrylic, etc.) and lots of weight to keep it down. (I used 3 or 4 40 kg cat litter boxes) Don't be sparing with the glue, you want to wet everything, but it shouldn't be so thick that all you see is the colour of the glue.

When the glue has set, you can use an iron (just heat, no steam) or heat gun to re-activate it and work/press out any bubbles/ridges. Trim, sand, and finish!

If you're stuck for veneer amount and positioning is tight, you can coat the veneer and surface with a smooth coat of glue and let it dry to clear. You can re-coat a few times to get a decent layer. When dry, position as perfectly as you want, and you can then iron it on easily.

Remember to put brown paper between the iron and veneer to keep things from getting stuck to the iron or smudging... some glue _will_ invariably work up through splits or small holes.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by JCFitz

You make cabinet work look so easy. I wish it came that easy to me.
Wanna make a trip out to Maryland and reveneer a jukebox?

I got a Wurlitzer 1400 that the veneer is really bad on and a Seeburg C that the preferred method of restoration is to cover the entire cabinet in white oak veneer as the original finish was printed and very few survive at all because of the rough treatment jukeboxes get.

The task just seem daunting to me compared to the rest of the restoration which comes easily to me since I've worked on electronics every day for over 21 years. Working with wood not so much except making a few projects back in shop at school out of real woodl.Never veneer.

Thanks! The electronics are easier for me too, but I've restored the cabinet first on a few projects before. That way at least I have something nice to look at until I find the time for the insides.
Lately though, I'm taking the approach I think Phil Nelson mentioned - get it working first then you're inspired to do the messy cabinet work.

Weather is a big factor for me too. 4-5 months of the year it's too cold for this kind of work.

I must admit the trim was very frustrating until I hit upon the second technique. I wonder how they cut it out originally

Like VintagePC said, it isn't that hard and I use the same technqiues he described. Try practicing with some scraps.

Originally Posted by VintagePC

...Remember to put brown paper between the iron and veneer to keep things from getting stuck to the iron or smudging... some glue _will_ invariably work up through splits or small holes.

Now you tell me! I ruined a perfectly good iron the first time I tried it


I just put a coat of stain on the top. I used Minwax Mahogany gel stain. The original was brown mahogany and this is a pretty good match.

After it dries overnight, I'll decide if it needs a second coat.

[VintagePC]

Originally Posted by bandersen

I must admit the trim was very frustrating until I hit upon the second technique. I wonder how they cut it out originally

I'd wager it was stamped with a large die cutter... or possibly a thick block cut to shape and then sliced in to thin pieces. This was how a lot of early complicated wood inlays were made too - shape and glue some long pieces together, then use a VERY sharp, thin saw to slice off a few mm.

Originally Posted by bandersen

Now you tell me! I ruined a perfectly good iron the first time I tried it

That's nothing. I ruined a perfectly good paper bag

We have an old "shop" iron for exactly this sort of thing. The thing still had aluminum stranded wiring. damn stuff turns in to resistance cord when it oxidizes, I spent the better part of a morning wondering why the iron wasn't getting very hot... and the rest of the day trying to open the bloody thing to replace the line cord.

Cabinet looks good. I used Varathane semi-gloss oil on mine. The veneer I had was nigh on 30 years old- so as soon as that stuff hits it, it turns a nice dark natural shade. (then again, I wasn't exactly going for the original finish... which was some god-awful fake plastic-y painted-on woodgrain)

[jeyurkon]

Wow! Wanna repair some of my cabinets? That's pretty nice work!

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by jeyurkon

Wow! Wanna repair some of my cabinets? That's pretty nice work!

Thanks! Not anytime soon - I have a bunch of my own to do first



The stain didn't penetrate the solid wood areas as much as the veneer so they're a little lighter. I'm going to use a little brown mahogany toner lacquer to blend it all together.