[Hallicrafters] S27 dials (Good Repro Parts are Just Not Practical)

[wa1kbq at aol.com]

High quality reproduction parts faithful to the original is not 
practical because there is not enough money in the old radio hobby to 
support it in most cases. It is far easier to just buy another S-27 and 
rob the dials. Unless you are OK with lower quality, most 
"reproductions" often turn out to be poor substitutes for original 
parts. I have examined the possibility of making some reproduction 
parts in order to supply replacements for otherwise unavailable 
originals and due to economics and environmental regulations and 
general changes with-in most industries I have concluded making 
authentic looking faithful reproductions is not economically feasible 
in most cases. I will use the common pre-war National power supply 
cable with a four prong plug as an example. Anyone who collects 
nationals would love to see this one:

National power cables are constructed of two #14 stranded conductors 
with tinned 41/30 stranding and two #20 stranded conductors with tinned 
10/30 stranding. The stranded conductors are spiral wound with twine to 
which vulcanized rubber is applied for insulation. The wire is then 
finished with a braided colored cotton cover. The four conductors are 
twisted together and installed inside a braided brown cotton jacket. 
The four prong plug has two different sizes of cadmium plated solid 
brass pins crimped into a 1.25" diameter bakelite disc with a molded 
brown rubber outer cover. All of these parts are unavailable and each 
must be individually contracted to be made before assembly into a 
replacement National power supply cable is possible. This all sounds 
reasonable enough until you try to find someone who still makes old 
style rubber insulated wire. I have contacted many wire companies over 
the years searching for a source for rubber insulated stranded wire 
only to be dismissed and told primary wire production today is now 
mainly PVC insulated. Unexpectedly I also discovered all the so-called 
antique auto wiring harness companies out there making reproductions 
for the antique car hobby are not really as faithful to the original as 
they like to claim; all are now made with PVC insulated primary wire 
unlike the originals. I did discover that test lead wire with neoprene 
insulation is still made but it has much finer stranding and lack of 
availability in one of the two sizes we need. The braided wire some 
popular antique radio parts vendors such as "Radio Daze" and "Antique 
Electronic Supply" is selling is really just standard PVC insulated 
wire which has been braided over with colored cotton. This is OK if all 
you want is the appearance of antique wire when replacing old wiring in 
a chassis but it's not really practical for making power cables because 
four of these bundled together is not very flexible and moderate 
flexibility is desirable for a power supply cable. About the only 
finished product we have available on the market to work with right now 
is the "reproduction" Atwater Kent power cable sold by Antique 
Electronic Supply in Tempe, AZ which is eight standard PVC insulated 
#20 conductors with overbraiding in a cheap brown braided cotton jacket 
priced at $3.50/ ft. Some have used the eight conductor Atwater Kent 
cable because a replacement is sorely needed. They end up being pretty 
stiff but there is nothing better currently available.

I have concluded the best option is to either don't buy a National with 
a frayed deteriorated cable or use what is currently available to fix 
it and live with the results. It would cost thousands of dollars to 
reproduce a good replacement part and there are only  three or four 
folks out there willing to pay what it would cost if you made them 
available. Can you imagine the rip-off accusations I would get from the 
general antique radio hobby if had them made and offered them for sale 
for anywhere near what it cost? I have concluded unless one is well 
heeled enough to just do it for himself without regard for what others 
think it cannot be done.

Regards, Greg




-----Original Message-----
From: ELC810 at aol.com
To: Hallicrafters at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Fri, Oct 8, 2010 5:02 pm
Subject: [Hallicrafters] S27 dials


does any one make reproduction dials for a s-27
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