[Keith]

Thanks Ron,

It did seem like this 71B did have toned trim and edges as down in the grooves it was very dark almost black. This is why I decided to tone all the trim. There just was no way to get all that black out of the edge grain of the wood.


I took another look at it this morning and I like it. I am with you the tops of the trim should be toned. I may mask it off and tone it later today.

[Steve Davis]

Keith, It's beautiful! You've done an excellent job.

Interesting...some of those Clyde Shuler cathedral cabinets had toned edges and bottom trim, and some didn't. It seems to vary among cabinets of the same model number, not just between 1932 and 1933 models.

There were many subtle variations in the Clyde Shuler cabinets, not only finish, but in profile and the dimensions of the trim and also the actual construction.

Steve

[Arran]

Keith, It's beautiful! You've done an excellent job.

Interesting...some of those Clyde Shuler cathedral cabinets had toned edges and bottom trim, and some didn't. It seems to vary among cabinets of the same model number, not just between 1932 and 1933 models.

There were many subtle variations in the Clyde Shuler cabinets, not only finish, but in profile and the dimensions of the trim and also the actual construction.

Steve

It wouldn't surprise me if they had at least two different production lines for building the cabinets, with different moulding knives, and jigs going at the same time. When you think of how many baby grand models used similar styled cabinets in that year they must have been turning out several hundred cabinets a day. As for the finish that would likely very from one day to the next, probably from one finisher to the next, you see that with the glaze on bathroom tiles still, depending on who made them, one box of tiles will be slightly more beize then the next.
Regards
Arran

[Ron Ramirez]

Philco made many of their own cabinets, but also subcontracted to others.

One example - the 1932 version of the 71B (also 36B, 47B and export models 247 and 271). 43,450 were made at Philco's plant #4, where McVeigh Recreation Center is now located in the Kensington district of Philadelphia. The other 1,250 were made by Stratford Chair Company.

Example #2 - 1933 version of the 71B, along with the later 14B and 18B. All produced at Plant #4.

Hmmm...the more I dig into Furniture History, the more I find that nearly all of the Shuler cathedrals with inset front panels were made at Plant #4. This includes the 91B, 16B, 17B, 19B, 43B, 48B, 52B, and the first 89B - all made at Plant #4.

I can understand variations in dimensions and construction, especially as tooling wore out and was replaced that might not have been exactly the same as the first runs, but why the variations in toning of trim vs. no toning of trim? Well, that's a question we can't answer, since the men who made these cabinets are likely all gone.

[Keith]

Keith, It's beautiful! You've done an excellent job.

Steve

Thanks Steve!