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Northern Electric Baby Champ Dial Cover Reproduction

 

Dial Cover Reproduction

The clear plastic dial covers are the most fragile part of these radios. After fifty years many of these covers are cracked, scratched or chipped and detract from an otherwise nicely restored radio.

There is a service available at www.dialcover.com that typically provides an excellent replacement. There are also do-it-yourself instructions available . These methods involve making an outline of the cabinet opening and use this tracing to form a cover from clear acetate butyrate. In many radio restorations this will provide a reproduction that is very close to the original.

 

There is problem that one encounters when trying to reproduce the waterfall cabinet dial cover. The dial cover has a curved contour that cannot be reproduced from a tracing of the cabinet opening. A view of the cover from above illustrates this contour.

As a result, in order to accurately reproduce the dial cover one needs to obtain a casting of an original dial cover, not the cabinet opening. Fortunately, often the original cover, though scratched or slightly torn can be repaired sufficiently to function as the master.

The casting material I use is Smooth-On Oomoo 30 Silicone Mold Making Rubber (www.smoothon.com). The cast that results is then used as a form.

 
I use a vacuum forming table and 020" clear acetate butyrate available from www.warmplastic.com. Orders for equipment and supplies are shipped promptly by Eliot Brown. The Kingston Junior with working area of 6"x8" provides more than enough space for the waterfall dial cover. It should also be large enough for larger dial covers of other radios that you might want to reproduce.
You will require a vacuum cleaner to provide the suction. My vacuum cleaner suction hose was slightly smaller than the vacuum forming table hole, but a piece of duct tape solved that problem.
The instructions on fitting the clear acetate onto the frame and how to monitor the plastic as it heats in the oven are very easy to understand. If the plastic cover is not quite perfect, you can reheat and try again. I've made about twenty five dial covers using this equipment and have only wasted two pieces of plastic.

One the plastic cools, you can trace it out and punch the mounting holes. I find it helpful to make the holes oval in shape. This allows adjusting the cover slightly to ensure it is straight before applying the dial clips.

These dial clips are also known as speed nut pushons. In western Canada they are sold in Peavey Mart stores. The 5/16" x 9/16" x 1/8" speed nut pushons are a perfect match for the originals. The company that imports them is National Manufacturing Co., (Part No. 40-2642) but they don't sell retail. Perhaps if contacted, they may be able to supply the name of local retailer for you. Thanks to Gord Neish for this tip.