[Nathan Slingerland]

Time for an update! It's taken a while but the 29CSX is now all back together:

[Image: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/4906...4737_c.jpg]

Here's how we got there:

My friend took my scan and created a nice clean representation for feeding into the computer controlled router. To make sure we had the shape just right he cut a bit of scrap to try on the radio.

[Image: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/4877...c0ae_z.jpg]

We iterated a few times and finally we were happy with the fit. At that point he cut it for real:

[Image: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/4888...d37d_z.jpg]

Factory fresh!

I finished it the by applying several coats of sanding sealer, sand, clear coat, 1x Extra Dark Walnut tone finish toner, 2x Extra Dark Walnut Ultra Classic. Finally many coats of clear lacquer, application of paint to the inside edges, then sanding again before the final clear coats.

[Image: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/4905...1ddb_z.jpg]

I stripped and refinished the top panel in the same way except it also required adding a Philco decal.

[Image: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/4905...3571_z.jpg]

After a few weeks I rubbed out the finish and installed the grille cloth (Richmond Designs chevron cloth in this case).

Installing the top panel grille cloth was a bit tricky since it apparently consists of two pieces of backer cardboard with chevron cloth that needs to look like a continuous piece. To make that easier I create this template that I printed glued to the cardboard:

Philco 29CSX Top Grille Cloth Template.pdf Size: 601.94 KB  Downloads: 466

I glued on the grille cloth to the back side of the template and then cut it out.

Side note: I need to fill in that extra top middle hole that wasn't original to the set (not sure why it was added or when - but I mistakenly included it in my template when drilling holes for the panel).

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At this point the 29CSX is happily sitting in the house and playing. One more final thing I need to do is to change out the stainless steel screws for brass oval top screws with finishing washers.

Thanks again to SteveG for providing a photo of the original mounting hardware (as well as the trace of the panel)!