1936 Philmore Blackbird Crystal Radio Restoration

The Crystal Radio was the dream of many young kids in the mid 20th century, but they date back to before the 1920's and were surprisingly well suited for the radio transmissions of that era. Their prices definitely made radio reception a reality for adults and kids alike. While Tubes won out due to audio volume and selectivity, Crystal Radios are still very functional as an AM receiver. We delve into some of the history of this Philmore model, and we will hook up this Crystal Radio model to an antenna and headphones to hear it function. The restoration projects were multi-fold. We try to replicate the Crystalline front panel with limited success. We will go through the creation of a decal for the front, a placard for the bottom, and will go through the wrinkle paint process associated with this model.
NOTE: Schematic in the video is incorrect. The corrected schematic can be found here, along with the Placard image file and the decal image file.
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[@mrdovie47]

I had a later plastic cased Philmore with the same "Cat Whisker". Lots of fun back in the day. Later I built short wave crystal sets that could pick up Europe, Cuba and Russia from Detroit MI. Funny that TV news would always say Cuban stations were monitored in Florida (Like you can't pick them up elsewhere).

[@Havilah_Springs]

PLEASE tell me that the footage of the decal work was sped up. If I worked that fast in "Paint" I would have destroyed it. Nicely done.

[@y_x2]

On the schematic, the detector should be placed in serie with the headphone and the coil in serie with the antenna.

[@antiqueradioarcheology-wil8878]

Dang it, you are correct. I don't know how I let that one slip by. I hate inaccuracies like that. I'm trying to cut the schematic off the end. It won't change the issue of having it imbedded in the video though. Nice catch. I've added a link in the description to the correct schematic. Here is the link: facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=AntiqueRadioArcheology&set=a.826346152862550

[@Havilah_Springs]

P.S. Would you please tell me how you unskewed the image for the bottom label, that looks great.

[@antiqueradioarcheology-wil8878]

Just by looking at it and spending many hours adjusting things. I've since acquired another radio, so I have a much better image I could work from but it's no longer an issue as I have this one now.

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

I'd put some oil on that coil wiper.

[@kennethdaust3793]

Hi do you have an email address I may have a way to get a similar finish. But anyway another good one.Thanks

[@antiqueradioarcheology-wil8878]

Private Message me here on this Facebook page with your e-mail, and I'll get back to you with mine. facebook.com/AntiqueRadioArcheology