Radio Rises from the Dead

It's hard enough to keep myself from bringing home old furniture, tools, radios, etc. when those things are for sale, but put an antique radio out with your trash and it will inevitably wind up in our basement. Sure, if it's been stripped down to bare wood and had its parts thrown in several bags it might take me several drive-bys before I decide. But oh yeah, it's mine.

Such was the case with this Silvertone console radio, model 7046. I had just brought home the Wurlitzer, a project that is still on the to-do list, when I saw this around the corner. I could see from the car that it had been someone else's work in-progress, but they must of got fed up with it sitting in their basement, mocking them with blaring incompleteness. Lucky for me that person did a passable job removing the old finish, and carefully put all the little bits in a plastic bag. If I hadn't seen those little knobs and screws I might have left the old thing for the trashman. Still, with little Keiran around it took me until recently to get to this project. He's reached the point where he only requires 94% of my attention, instead of the full 100, so for about 30-minutes a night I was able to glue, apply wood-fill and some little pieces of veneer, and refinish the cabinet. Some smoking and sputtering capacitors were replaced with brand new ones , and the speaker and grill cloth (the only missing parts) were replaced. All-in-all it came together nicely, and served as good practice for the Wurlitzer, too. Click here for more before and after pictures.

I sold the radio this week. It feels good to have one less project going on, and now I'm re-energized to start back on the jukebox.