I've always wanted a pre 1950 old school radio. Just thinking of all the news and entertainment its produced over the years brings me to a place of respect for its history. Yesterday I was looking around on facespace and ran across this Philco 41-295. I made the deal ($80) and brought it home. It's setting under a picture of a p-40 Spitfire and looks fantastic in all of it's vintage 1941 glory in my living room. My plan is to have the cabinet restored by a professional and I'll do the rebuild of the tube amp. Not afraid to tackle the project and I'm looking forward to suggestions, information and answer to my questions. I have a hobbyist experience with basic electronics. I'm good at soldering and figuring technical things out. I can muddle my way through a schematic with a few questions. Thanks!
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Hey!
Congratulation on your new "old" radio!
I have a 1935 Philco 84B (second style version) cathedral radio. I bought it back in 1998/9. The cabinet was restored with new grill cloth similar to the original style from that period and he did a pretty job on that. The electronic was mostly restored so I didn't have to do much, just changed some small capacitor inside there. There were some holes in the speaker but I patched it with paper and glue, works fine. I usually using it to listen to local AM news radio stations here in NYC while I'm cleaning my place. I built an AM transmitter so I can play my own music through it, but somehow the transmitter doesn't work right now, I'll have to go through it. Every time I listen to it, I can't help thinking of all the historical events that was broadcasted through the radio. I'm pretty sure the previous owners of my radio were listening to FDR announcing of Pearl Harbor attack, the end of WWII and etc through this radio.
Anyway, you will have to replace those old capacitors big and small in there. With that you will need a schematic. You already know the model number but you'll also have to look at the amp chassis for a specific version of that radio model. You might be able to find that on the internet. But also a good place is the Antique Electronic Supply, they also sell tubes, and other stuffs that are helpful in restoring old radio.
https://www.tubesandmore.com/ Good luck and keep us posted.
Buddy