[Ron Ramirez]

I have owned one of the seldom seen, early, inset-panel 89B cathedrals for a couple years now. I wasn't entirely pleased with its appearance, as the cabinet had a number of problems.

Here's a front view of how the set looked:

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/ARF/012.jpg]

As you can see, there is a poor veneer patch at top left of the front arch.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/ARF/015.jpg]

The photo above shows how badly the veneer on the top and sides was split.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/ARF/016.jpg]

And in the photo above, you can see how the rear arch is coming loose from the top and sides.

I let it go for a long time, thinking I might try to fix it one of these days.

But, as I have admitted before, cabinet work is not my strong point.

So...Steve Davis took on the job of making this set look good again.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/ARF/058.jpg]

An "after" shot of the front. Looks virtually factory-fresh, eh!

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/ARF/064.jpg]

The same view of the right side of the cabinet reveals no more splitting veneer. Steve had to replace the veneer and substrate. The grain now runs front-to-back, as it did originally.

In the front of the cabinet, the front arch has new veneer, and the cabinet has a new front panel. In addition, the molding around the knobs and around the bottom of the cabinet is all new.

[Image: http://www.philcoradio.com/images/phorum/ARF/068.jpg]

A back view of the set as it looks now. The rear arch is securely glued into place.

This 89B is now a showpiece!

Thank You, Steve!

And as a side note...Steve can now build replicas of the 89B cabinet, too.

I've been wanting to post this for some time now, but I have been extremely busy with schoolwork and rebuilding my website. Now that the site is rebuilt, I'll have a little more time for participating here.