New Vintage Audio Restoration HQ

atmasphere said:
If you keep this up there's a good chance it will look better than when it was new...
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Well I just received the latest unit I'm going to try and learn to save.

It's a 1947 NRI (Triplett) Model 67.

I much prefer the testers from the 30's and 40's - much easier for me to try and learn than the 'newer' ones.

It's a metal case so it will be much easier to restore than a wood one falling back on my days of detailing cars.

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Bringing the original 1935 leather strap back to life.

I used the same products used on super-expensive saddles and such.

First deep cleaning - but carefully as the leather was brittle and could fall apart.

Then 20+ applications over several days of leather oil applying it heavily and letting it soak in (you can see it soaking in the photo). Keep doing this until it doesn't absorb any more.

Then a manual application of leather Baum to help seal in the moisture and protect the leather from the elements.

I probably spent more on product to try and save it than if I had just had a new one made. LOL

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atmasphere said:
Had you considered having someone make a strap for you? If the leather is rotted it can give away without warning.
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I have and you're right - I would never trust them due to age. I think that would be an accident waiting to happen.

Even if the strap were fine, I wouldn't trust the screws that go into the wood. They are usually really small and possibly stripped in the wood from previous careless owners.

I never carry by the straps so it's more to preserve the originality and for the fun of restoration. I like the effort involved in bringing it back to life. It's a challenge for me.

Even with my metal military testers with metal handles - I always carry them like a pizza box as I never trust any handles/hinges/hardware that is usually 75-95 years old.
 
Pretty excited about today's score.

After months of looking for the right one at the right price, I got a Weston 798 1940's tube tester.

Very different than Hickok's, many feel it's more accurate than the Hickoks. I can't say if that is true or not, however it DOES use a 5KHz signal feature, and the Weston testers place higher voltage on the plate of the tube which is supposed to give it more accurate readings.

I will also say when the FAA bought tube testers to be used in the towers and airplanes, they went with the Weston version, not Hickok.

It's right on that line of being new enough to test a very wide range of tubes I use, while still being old enough to get the variety of 4 pin tubes I have.

As testers moved into the 1950's, many of them dropped 4 pin sockets all tougher (think 2A3, 45, 300B). Or if they didn't drop the 4 pin, it was a secondary function so the testing of those tubes wasn't the most accurate.

This one has a very good faceplate, the owner sent me pics of it on the multimeter so I know it's accurate and working, AND - my favorite part - the outside metal case needs LOTS of TLC. I'll defiantly be working some magic on the case.

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Michaels HiFi said:
Pretty excited about today's score.

After months of looking for the right one at the right price, I got a Weston 798 1940's tube tester.

Very different than Hickok's, many feel it's more accurate than the Hickoks. I can't say if that is true or not, however it DOES use a 5KHz signal feature, and the Weston testers place higher voltage on the plate of the tube which is supposed to give it more accurate readings.

I will also say when the FAA bought tube testers to be used in the towers and airplanes, they went with the Weston version, not Hickok.

It's right on that line of being new enough to test a very wide range of tubes I use, while still being old enough to get the variety of 4 pin tubes I have.

As testers moved into the 1950's, many of them dropped 4 pin sockets all tougher (think 2A3, 45, 300B). Or if they didn't drop the 4 pin, it was a secondary function so the testing of those tubes wasn't the most accurate.

This one has a very good faceplate, the owner sent me pics of it on the multimeter so I know it's accurate and working, AND - my favorite part - the outside metal case needs LOTS of TLC. I'll defiantly be working some magic on the case.
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Fabulous tester! I'd be tempted on something like that to give the case a nice vintage finish such as a wrinkletex battleship gray finish.

This is one I've had on hand for a while; not as nice as that but is a true transconductance tester:
Precise.jpg
 
atmasphere said:
Fabulous tester! I'd be tempted on something like that to give the case a nice vintage finish such as a wrinkletex battleship gray finish.

This is one I've had on hand for a while; not as nice as that but is a true transconductance tester:
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Yours looks really good.

To your point I find - especially with the wood cases - deciding which finish to go with the hardest part.

Should I use Liberon Finishing oil (I love this stuff)?
Liberon Teak Oil?
Custom blend of Tung / varnish / solvent?
Or a custom blend of BLO / varnish / solvent?
Or go wicked crazy and do Tung / BLO / Varnish / Solvent? (I prefer spar varnish over poly in all cases);
GF Seal a Cell?
GF Arm a seal?
Tried and True hard wax oil?
Waterlox?
Osmo?
Bunbleshutes hard wax oil?
A custom made hard wax oil blend?
Do I finish with a wax topping?
Should I do the 5 layer oil finish using sandpaper with each application to make an oil slurry to help fill the grain?
Should I use a grain filler on its own?
Shellac?
Something else?

I'm not a fan of the film varnish type look, so I would never final coat with a poly or lacquer.

And on, and on, and on. I spend as much time deciding what to do as I often do on the work itself. I love the experimenting to see how it all looks and turns out.

I've been looking at the Weston metal one, and I think what I may do is take the handle and hardware off to clean them up while leaving an open space to run through a multi-step polish regimen.

I have about 40 different automotive products to choose from, but I think in this instance I'm going to do:

Clean with APC to remove oils and grease,
Wipe with a paint cleaner to remove any residue,
Jescar compound with a wool pad;
Jescar medium polish with a medium foam pad;
Jescar fine polish with a soft foam pad;
Wipe down with paint cleaner to make sure there are no remaining oils from the polishes;
Hand application of 3D poly mixed wax;
Hand application of 2 layers of pure carnauba wax

My guess is it will restore it to a beautiful aged/used look vs. a brand new look. Sometimes I like to keep the character of the piece while refreshening and protecting it.

I love the challenge of the restoration. :)
 
atmasphere said:
The prewar test gear I've seen often had a finish that looked like spar varnish.
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Correct. Seems like most of the wood pieces I've gotten from the 30's are an old version of lacquer which mimics today's Spar for sure.

It can be a pain to get off the military ones as every year they literally slathered on a new layer of it. Trying to remove 15+ layers without damaging the wood usually takes me 20+ hours.

The issue with lacquer is if you don't remove it completely, applying an oil finish will make is a sticky mess (as I've learned the hard way).
 
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