Another Completed Radio Cabinet

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Mick_VT
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Re: Another Completed Radio Cabinet

Post by Mick_VT »

I don't for a minute wish to diminish your excellent work in any way Al, just voicing some thoughts. I wish I could do such work even half as well as you do.
Mick...

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Re: Another Completed Radio Cabinet

Post by 1918ColonialRevival »

Mick_VT wrote:
Al F. Furnituremaker wrote:Most of the cabinets I do are for collectors and they want them better than new.


That concept has always baffled me. I used to see it withe the car restoration crowd, a beautifully restored vehicle shiny and lovely. Not customized, the owner wants it "stock" but the finish is so very much better than new, the paint on the underside is glossy and polished, all hose clamps are stainless and gleaming. To me, with those cars I think, "but it doesn't look stock!" - lol sorry for the ramble, its just a bit of the collector psyche I dont quite understand / relate to I guess.


Most serious collectors don't like the "better than new" look - that's usually more of the decorator crowd. Not knocking Al's work at all because it's among the best I've seen. But, when you're doing a job for pay you have to do as you are told.

I've not understood that concept either. It seems to have emerged in the late 1980s when all things related to '50s pop culture became "cool" again. This is the era when people were putting mirror finishes on everything from street rods to Coke machines. Now, 30 years later, a lot of people think that's how they really looked

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Al F. Furnituremaker
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Re: Another Completed Radio Cabinet

Post by Al F. Furnituremaker »

Oh Mick, certainly no offense taken. I fully understand the discrepancy.

1918;

Most of the cabinets I do are from collectors all across the country. I get them from a shop that does the radio portion. I've never had one that asked to keep it as original as possible. They seem to want the spit and polish finish in order to make the grain patterns really stand out. In fact, I now have the first of 11 from one customer, all to get the spit and polish, except one which is already that way. The radio crowd seems to look at things a little different than the antique furniture collectors.

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Re: Another Completed Radio Cabinet

Post by Gothichome »

1918ColonialRevival wrote:
Mick_VT wrote:
Al F. Furnituremaker wrote:Most of the cabinets I do are for collectors and they want them better than new.


That concept has always baffled me. I used to see it withe the car restoration crowd, a beautifully restored vehicle shiny and lovely. Not customized, the owner wants it "stock" but the finish is so very much better than new, the paint on the underside is glossy and polished, all hose clamps are stainless and gleaming. To me, with those cars I think, "but it doesn't look stock!" - lol sorry for the ramble, its just a bit of the collector psyche I dont quite understand / relate to I guess.


Most serious collectors don't like the "better than new" look - that's usually more of the decorator crowd. Not knocking Al's work at all because it's among the best I've seen. But, when you're doing a job for pay you have to do as you are told.

I've not understood that concept either. It seems to have emerged in the late 1980s when all things related to '50s pop culture became "cool" again. This is the era when people were putting mirror finishes on everything from street rods to Coke machines. Now, 30 years later, a lot of people think that's how they really looked


Sort of the idea every Victorian home was and should be painted white. Glad that has changed, at least by the knowledgable

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Re: Another Completed Radio Cabinet

Post by phil »

many old radios used such heavy toner coverage even overtop of walnut veneers that it tended to hide the grain. also finishes yellow and wood darkens over time. I'd say the object "should be" to try to recreate what the item would look like if it was perfectly stored and cared for but not an improvement over the way it was when it was sold.

Radios were production furniture and they didn't spend hours and hours toiling over the finish like they may have with nice furniture that was hand made in years previous. They used lacquer because it was quick to put on , dried fast, they didn't want to slow production. AL has a responsibility to try to create what his customer's ask for. I always find myself so caught in the details I could never make a profit on restoring anything. early on in my radio collecting I started doing things like trying to repair the chassis on several radios and then refinish all the cases. Finally I decided it didnt' matter how many I did. It's just a hobby for me. Then I started to enjoy it more. I also realized it is a very difficult business to make big profits. There aren't many who can restore old radios and good furniture re-finishers are few and far between. Im very impressed with the stuff AL has shown us.

I have also restored cars. I've got an old volvo that Ive gone over and owned for about 30 years. its a 1966 122s. what always surprises me at car shows is how they get the whole thing refinished so well all at the same time, for me i found I worked on it and drove it and it was a never ending cycle and I guess I never had the bucks to get body shops to do work. I did everything myself. Its getting a bit rusty now and I have no garage but she's a little charmer and I still enjoy road trips and I got it to actually go pretty fast. I did lots of mods but kept it looking stock. I pretty much balanced and blueprinted the engine and bored it out and polished the ports , mildly hot cam. and fitted overdrive and stock lower gears. I spent many hours on it. In ever had a mig so I used a gas torch and made all kinds of body parts to fix rust issues. Its not a valuable car but it's been a lot of fun. I'd go further if I had a garage but maybe my interests changed more towards fixing up my house. In the summer I go blasting up the coquihalla, the speed limits are about 130K and huge hills. the mods I did made it a lot more driveable. sometimes I race people and they don't even know it ;-) I still get lots of nice compliments even though it's not perfect. most of the perfect ones are owned by guys who just paid for other people to do all the work. If I were to sell it it would just be a sad day and it wouldn't go for a lot. Because I didn't change the seats and wheels and everythign that shows it qualifies for collector plates so I can afford to keep it insured and just drive it a few times a year. It'll rev up to 6000 so far without blowing up and when I get in it I have a hard time doddling around though it will still lug along. I have often missd first and just let the clutcrh out in 3rd and it just starts off in 3rd. I can let the clutch out and then step on the gas without stalling.

later I got into 240s and I have owned and fixed quite a few of those. I pick up older ones with good mileage and just drive them and fix what they need. Ive never had to make car payments The 240's are getting hard to find so I bought an 88 740 wagon. it's the same thing but with an even more square body. I haven't won any fasion contests but it gets me from A to B and it's great for hauling stuff. i keep the roof racks on all the time in case I find good freebies ;-)

newer stuff scares me. I hate the idea of being cornered into seeing the mechanic to adress some electronic code. I wouldn't touch a newer volvo. They are way too overcomplicated and it's seems they have gone to retooling and changing things too often. I loved that volvos were robust and simple. Its hard to find any modern cars that aren't just way over complicated with electronics. The electronics would be fine if they standardized them. I don't like planned obsolescence.

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