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Radio by Hoffman, Cabinet by Brown-Saltman

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Hepcats Haven

I really like the simple lines on this unit.

Mel and I hit Second Sunday last weekend and didn’t find much till we stumbled across this great unit our friend Dennis was selling. He works in construction and said he got this out of one of those big houses in S.F., he said it was in the basement and he purchased it from the original owner. I liked the cabinet and the look of the unit a lot but we went crazy for it when I noticed a small stencil next to the record player it said…

The mark of quality

I have been wanting one of these fold out units for a long time and this was the perfect set up.

Tell me that isn’t cool!

This unit is known as a Hoffman B1000 and was produced in 1947 by Hoffman Radio Corp.; Los Angeles, California. It’s has broadcast bands plus 2 Short Wave bands. It has a record player on the opposite side.

The cabinet will need to be refinished. There are many scratches and scuffs from years of use. This radio appears to be complete with all the knobs and parts. The fabric on the front seems to be in great shape.

I need to find replacement water slide stencils to replace the ones that are rubbed off.

I will need to get this over to Louis at Stereo Advisor to get it running well again. It looks like it has sat for a while. This unit will look great with our Brown-Saltman desk and chair that I am almost done refinishing (Thanks Vic!). The chair is over at Bill’s from B&T Upholstery getting redone. Once it is complete I will make sure to blog about it. We are excited to see how it will all turn out.

Rio Heywood Wakefield Low Dresser Restored

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Hepcats Haven

The finish was in sad shape. As you can see there is finish issues on the front and side of the cabinet.

The finish was in sad shape. As you can see there are finish issues on the front and side of the cabinet.

I finally got to the last dresser in our Rio set. The restoration was straight forward just like the other pieces we completed. The only thing left to refinish is our queen dog bone bed. This is not the original bed that came in the Rio set but I like it’s styling more. I am very pleased with the results and have discovered a new trick for those of you who have had difficulty getting a smooth finish.

Here it is…

I love this stain! It looks absolutely fantastic.

We were fortunate that when we purchesed this set the dressers came with glass cit for the tops of them.

We were fortunate that when we purchased this set of dressers they came with glass cut for the tops.

I discovered a trick that could be used when using the Heywood Wakefield stain sold by Jeff at needful_useful_things on Ebay. If you are like me you do not have a paint booth which means you sometime have particulate such as dust affect your final results. Here is my new tip: after the stain is completely dry you can use the following products to smooth the surface to a slick finish.

This stuff isn't only great for the finish of your car but also your refinished dresser. The clay bar actually sheers imperfections from the surface and creates a slick ans smooth surface.

This stuff isn’t only great for the finish of your car but also your refinished dresser. The clay bar actually sheers off imperfections from the surface and creates a slick and smooth surface. Use is pretty straight forward, spray, rub clay bar over surface and wipe with microfiber cloth.

After I use the clay bar I apply wax and buff it off to reveal and really nice finish.

It is sooo important when you restore things to keep your mind moving thinking of ways to fix problems and sometimes that may mean using a product for a purpose outside of its intended use. When I come across a problem I try to think outside the box to help resolve the issue I am facing. That is how I thought of this idea and the repair technique that I pioneered to repair chalkware lamps. The most important thing to do when you have an idea that could help others is to share it and that is the purpose of our blog. Here are the other pieces we have finished:

Rio vanity

Rio tall dresser

Rio night stands

Mel and I had Bill from B&T Upholstery start on upholstering the vanity stool. We were able to find some really cool geometric cotton Frieze fabric to make it look authentic, here is a sample of what we found: