Beauty of old electrical and measuring things, etc.

[Charlie Cheap]

Be a day or two to get them all powdered and rouged for the camera.

"Powdered and rouged"...todays youngsters have no idea what you are talking about. At 75 I do! Somewhere I may still have a "belly-button Brownie"...remember those? Back in the early 50's my Dad and I were on a trip where he returned from the bathroom laughing so hard he was choking on his tobacco chew. I asked what was so funny, and he told me someone had taken the Kodak counter ad-sign that said "Film for your Brownie"...and placed over the toilet paper roll. We both laughed for a 100 miles.

 

[dlgoff]

Don, as you can see by my 65 Mustang I am an old car guy. One thing you may not know is, if you have old hard rubber items, say headphone covers, wipe them generously with lacquer thinner to soften them. It works great on old rubber car parts, like window seals that are no longer available. Afterwards, Armorall helps keep them soft. Phosphoric acid works great on old rusty metal...but don't drop an old Rare 40 Ford rearview mirror in it overnight...next morning glass is all that is left.

Don, I forgot...Pot metal is not safe around phosphoric acid...which I learned the hard way.

Thanks Charlie. I'll certainly keep these in mind.

 

[davenn]

Don, I don't know where you live, but if it is anywhere near Detroit, this may interest you ...

https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/63022552

a bunch of older Motorola test gear for saleDave

 

[dlgoff]

Don, I don't know where you live, but if it is anywhere near Detroit, this may interest you ...

https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/63022552

a bunch of older Motorola test gear for saleDave

Wow Dave. That's some good looking test equipment. Thanks for thinking of me. Unfortunately I live west of Kansas City, so it would be a fairly long drive for this old man.

That and it's really cold this winter.

 

[davenn]

Thanks for thinking of me.

you're welcome

That and it's really cold this winter.

one of the hottest summers on record for parts of Australia It's been dreadful
So many days over 40C (104F) so far. the hottest in my area has been 43C
the record is 52C (125F) in northern South Australia State ... just crazy

 

[dlgoff]

Here's a photo of my vacuum system, made of old stuff, doing a pump-down. Here, the beauty is in "system's" reliability. After hundreds of pump-downs, never a component failure.

 

[dlgoff]

I was given a https://www.radiolaguy.com/Showcase/TestEquipment/B&K_550.htm panel that was covered with dryed mud. After lots of cleaning I built a wooden box frame for mounting the tube tester on. Here are a couple pictures of this old beauty from around 1959.

The thing works very well so I'll be putting it to good use.

 

[Janus]

I remember when tube testers could be found all over the place, even in grocery stores.

 

[dlgoff]

I remember when tube testers could be found all over the place, even in grocery stores.

Yes. The one I have looks like it may have been in a store.
My first use of a tube tester was in my little town's Standard Oil gas station.

image compliments of https://www.dividend.com/how-to-invest/the-complete-visual-history-of-standard-oil/

 

[Borg]

I was given a https://www.radiolaguy.com/Showcase/TestEquipment/B&K_550.htm panel that was covered with dryed mud. After lots of cleaning I built a wooden box frame for mounting the tube tester on. Here are a couple pictures of this old beauty from around 1959.

View attachment 241927

View attachment 241928

The thing works very well so I'll be putting it to good use.

I think that I have the same oscilloscope that's in the background.

 

[jim hardy]

The thing works very well so I'll be putting it to good use.

Don i just have to remark on the craftsmanship you demonstrate in your restorations of these beautiful old pieces.

C'est Beaux , mon ami !

old jim

 

[dlgoff]

I think that I have the same oscilloscope that's in the background.

And I have two of them.

 

[dlgoff]

Don i just have to remark on the craftsmanship you demonstrate in your restorations of these beautiful old pieces.

C'est Beaux , mon ami !

old jim

Thank you Jim.

 

[Charlie Cheap]

Before I went to Elkins Institute to become a TV service tech (TV repairman in my day) I used one of theses at the local 7-11 to keep our TV's working. They worked great...the tester and our TV. How times have changed!

 

[DrClaude]

An engineering marvel:

 

[OmCheeto]

An engineering marvel:

Looking at the 18½ minute run time for that video, I guessed that I wouldn't make it to the end.
I was wrong.

 

[dlgoff]

An engineering marvel:

Wow. What a cool engineering marvel. I want one.

Thanks for sharing @DrClaude.

 

[berkeman]

Wow. What a cool engineering marvel. I want one.

But only if you can restore it, right Don?

 

[dlgoff]

But only if you can restore it, right Don?

I'd make it look brand new.

 

[dlgoff]

Along with the B&K 550 tube tester, I was also give it's tube chart and it's B&K 610 expansion panel.

Here's a couple pictures of the expansion panel. IMO the 610's beauty comes from it's rotary switches.

Here's the tube tester with it's expansion panel & chart:

 

[jim hardy]

The silkscreenng looks pristine,

resistors are all oriented so color code reads L to R
service loops in all the wires

Somebody took pride in his workmanship.

What a find !

old jim

 

[berkeman]

resistors are all oriented so color code reads L to R

And I thought I was the only person who did that in my hand-built boards...

 

[dlgoff]

Somebody took pride in his workmanship.

And I thought I was the only person who did that in my hand-built boards...

That's because you all enjoy beauty too I think.

 

[davenn]

And I thought I was the only person who did that in my hand-built boards...

naaaa, all us good techies do that. It was ingrained into us not long after "Adam was a boy"

 

[dlgoff]

I've got my old vacuum system beauty,

all pumped down.

Now I'm going to try depositing a layer of gold one some round glass microscope slip covers (cleaned and coated with a thin layer of "clear" exposed photo-resist). I find that the photo-resist makes for a stronger metal bond. This same type of photo resist will then be used to etch a pattern on the gold layer. Here's a photograph showing the gold sample before it gets melted.

 

[dlgoff]

Here, the beauty is in "system's" reliability. After hundreds of pump-downs, never a component failure.

No matter how reliable rotary vacuum pumps are, they still need maintenance. One of my Edwards 8 dual stage pumps started to perform below expectations, so it's time for a clean and overhaul.

Here, the beauty is in the interior parts.

Oh BTW. Vacuum pump oil makes it a really messy job.

 

[DrClaude]

A restauration master at work

 

[dlgoff]

A restauration master at work

Just goes to show that restorations are no easy matter. Now you've got me wanting an old micrometer.

 

[davenn]

A restauration master at work

I kinda disagree with filing off of the casting ridges and filling on of hollows ( unless the hollows were caused by damage). Those ridges and hollows are part of the originality of its creation and now its uniqueness has been lost

Just goes to show that restorations are no easy matter.

yeah, it helps to have the right tools to do the job

 

[DrClaude]

I kinda disagree with filing off of the casting ridges and filling on of hollows ( unless the hollows were caused by damage). Those ridges and hollows are part of the originality of its creation and now its uniqueness has been lost

I agree. He does that in all similar restorations, but I think he should only repair damage.

yeah, it helps to have the right tools to do the job

And the talent!

 

[jim hardy]

Takes patience and manual dexterity.

My old friend Harry and a fiddle restoration in progress.
Note home made fiddle clamps - old sewing thread spools work well.

Difference between a fiddle and a violin ?
Violins don't get beer spilt on 'em.
(@dlgoff that's your Grandma's violin)

sorry ths one's off topic, being not electrical..

old jim

 

[dlgoff]

Takes patience and manual dexterity.

My old friend Harry and a fiddle restoration in progress.
Note home made fiddle clamps - old sewing thread spools work well.

View attachment 244989

Difference between a fiddle and a violin ?
Violins don't get beer spilt on 'em.
(@dlgoff that's your Grandma's violin)

sorry ths one's off topic, being not electrical..

old jim

Thanks for posting this photograph @jim hardy. I was going to post it here once I got your permission but just hadn't gotten around to asking you.

 

[davenn]

Difference between a fiddle and a violin ?
Violins don't get beer spilt on 'em.

hahaha

 

[dlgoff]

My old friend Harry and a fiddle restoration in progress.

Harry did a great job putting this violin back together after all the abuse I gave it as a kid.

sorry ths one's off topic, being not electrical.

But the waveforms a violin produces is just as complicated as electrical analog signals. Years ago, after my school's EE department invited Robert Moog to explain the electronics of the music synthesizer he designed and built, I played around making analog circuits that "duplicated" string instruments. IIRC a violin's waveforms are rich in odd harmonics.
Anyway, here's that old violin now.

 

[jim hardy]

IIRC a violin's waveforms are rich in odd harmonics.

They're interesting also from a mechanical perspective.
The front and back vibrate in various modes, not just as a simple sheet
a wood soundpost about the diameter of a pencil is placed right underneath the 'bridge' to mechanically couple couple them,
and a 'bass bar' stiffens the front to help it produce low notes,
as you can imagine the varying thickness of those front and back plates controls the sound of the fiddle.
Yours was well made. The neck mount was unusual, similar to that of a region in the way northeast of Germany. Harry liked its tone and said whoever thinned its front and back knew what he was doing..

Theory of vibrating plates is an interesting niche

History of Chladni's Law
f ~ (m+2n)^2
The story behind the equation:
Ernest Florens Friedrich Chladni of Saxony is often respectfully referred to as "the Father of Acoustics". Indeed, his body of work on the vibration of plates has served as the foundation of many experiments by countless other scientists, including Faraday, Strehlke, Savart, Young, and especially Mary Desiree Waller. Chladni's study consisted of vibrating a fixed, circular plate with a violin bow and then sprinkling fine sand across it to show the various nodal lines and patterns. The experiment is particularly rewarding in that high frequencies often exhibit strikingly complex patterns (see the pictures on the image page). In fact, Chladni's demonstrations in many royal academies and scientific institutions frequently drew large crowds who were duly impressed with the aesthetically sophisticated qualities of vibrating plates. Napoleon himself was so pleased with Chladni's work that he commissioned the further study of the mathematical principles of vibrating plates which then spurred a plethora of research in waves and acoustics. While experimental methods and equipment have been much improved in the last 200 years, Chladni's law and original patterns are still regularly employed to study plate vibrations.
References:
Rossing, Thomas D. "Chladni's Law for Vibrating Plates." American Journal of Physics.Vol 50. no 3. March, 1982.

see also
http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/violintro.htmlhttp://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/chladni.html
I hope your grandchildren enjoy it as much as you did..