RCA AR-1264 tuning knobs

Hey,

Can anyone give me the diameter of the Knobs and pilot light for the RCA Theremin? Also, does anyone know the chassis sizes?

Thanks.

Sounds like you're doing what I am. I can measure my Radiola 60 chassis when I get home. It's pretty close, but there are slight differences in the bottom edges, from what I can tell from photos.

The radiola 60 knobs, which don't have arrows are: 1 5/16" diameter, tapered, 1/4" shaft, 23/32" high
I bought arrowed knobs from oldradioparts.com that are 1.5" diameter and passed on the ones that were 1 1/8".

What is the pilot light mount made out of? It looks brass. Dayfan, can you chime in? Did you measure out that? Is it a machinable part?

Radiola chassis drawing (http://mikebuffington.net/livejournal/theremin/radiolachassis.gif)

It's rough, and I realized I didn't get height measurements. I'll fill in the rest later, here.

thanks for your quick response. There's a good close-up view of the knobs on this sight. I'm sure you've seen them.

http://www.thereminworld.com/gal_rca_collins.asp

That pilot light looks like it has an aluminum housing of some kind. I'm going to email that photo to the playthingsofthepast guy and see if he can dig up anything that resembles that stuff.

I just bought some mahogany last weekend. I've already build my circuit on a piece of plywood. I just have to put it in a home now. Have you thought about bending a volume ant. yet? I bent one out of solid brass, but I'm going to go for the gold with the tubular as soon as I get around to it.

Do you have any noise coming out of your machine, yet?

I have bent my volume antenna, with much success. I followed the drawings by Jeff. I'll post photos when I get all the antenna parts done. I'm machining out everything, including the nuts.

I still need to wind the coils, so it will be a while before I get it making sound. I can't wait though.

The pilot light is 6 volt screw base socket on an L bracket that is fastened to the chassis with a bolt. The jewel is in a separate mounting that goes through a hole in the chassis. The jewel itself is in an extension that moves the jewel out from the chassis so you can see it in the cabinet. The light socket/jewel holder is common but the extension would have to be made. The jewel assembly is made of plated brass. I have seen faceted and plain jewels in RCA's. The knobs are quite different than Radiola 60 knobs. They are black with a slight taper to a small skirt. Both have arrows. Send me your email address and I can send you pictures of the originals plus pictures of anything else you need are available. I have detailed photos of most of an original RCA. I'm glad to see people interested in reproducing the RCA!

Dayfan

I really want to get knobs that are as close as possible to the real thing. I am even willing to play "dentist" and grind/chop down plastic knobs that fit the proper shaft, and build them back up as replicas of the RCS knobs. However, to do this, I would need someone that owns an RCA knob to make a plaster cast of it. I'm willing to barter for this by giving the donor a set of knobs in return.

Any takers?

I forgot two things:
(1) Does not have to be a plaster cast. We can talk about how to do this safely and accurately.

(2) Same thing goes for the pitch and volume plates -- I can manufacture replicas with a little help.

I've been asking about the pitch, volume, on/off, and off/play for a while with no takers.

Alginate would be the best mold. Silicon would be good as well. Neither will damage or mar the original items.

I would be interested in a copy of the knobs and labels, as well. In return, I would be willing to turn coils, which I'm getting pretty good at, or bend a volume antena (I still need to figure out how to do that though).