Crosley model 170 cathedral radio

[electra225]

I found this radio and a Philco 116-B in a fell-down chicken house in Missouri. The radios had been somewhat protected from the elements by the metal roof that had fallen down on top of the radios. The cabinets were in several pieces. Ron and I managed to stick the cabinets back together with Elmer's construction glue and epoxy. Both radios look like they have been rescued from a fell-down chicken house. They are not perfect, but they both built out well and are good performers. The Philco 116-B is legendary for its performance. The Crosley is not so common. It's a big 10-tube cathedral with P-P 2A5 output tubes. The IF transformers are under the chassis. It's kind of a different animal to align and set up properly, but once you get the hang of what they want you to do, it's not all that bad. This one has a 9" Rola speaker. I believe it to be circa 1932, give or take a year. When I first got this radio going, it would play fine on the bench, but if I put it back into the cabinet, it was dead. There is a metal shield on top of the if section of the chassis, for whatever reason. That shield was tweaked just enough that, when it was tightened down, it would contact a grid cap on a tube and kill the radio. I left the shield off, but I still have it. Those two 2A5 output tubes on the left are original, period-coded, engraved Crosley tubes, made by Ken-Rad. Also featured is my wife's deluxe, custom grill cloth.

[William]

That's a good looking Radio!

Bill

[TC Chris]

I'd say it was a successful rescue & restoration! Now give us photos of the Philco.

I've been gluing veneers on a big mahogany dresser from my great-grandmother's house. It will be offered in my Mom's estate sale eventually. "Brown wood" furniture is way out of fashion right now. I figured that this huge old dresser would be bound for the dumpster unless I gave it some attention. It was stored a couple years in a damp environment and that affected the old hide glues. The core lumber expanded and the veneers busted loose. My goal is not to make money but just give the old piece a fighting chance of finding a new home. It keeps resisting--I keep finding new joints and veneers that need glue--but we're making progress.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

The chassis was still bolted to the bottom on the Crosley when we dug it out of the old building. The rest was laying on top of the chassis. The bottom of that radio was so warped and twisted that it fell apart when we unbolted the chassis. Ron the Genius Refinisher practically made a whole bottom out of epoxy. Over half of the bottom is epoxy. We probably should have done the decent thing and put them both out of their misery. The Philco is in storage. It still has its original grill cloth, although it has a hole in it. I left it like it is just because it had survived the fell-down chicken house. The Philco is an impressive radio. Maybe almost as good a performer as my Philco 40-180 was before I moved it. The bolts all fell out of the chassis on the 40-180 so the chassis resided with its neighbor in the truck. I have no idea if anything was damaged or not. Both the speakers in the Crosley and the 116-B were nice, remarkable as that sounds.