[rollei_list] Re: OT Leica finish on radios
- From: Jerry Lehrer <glehrer@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 13:52:06 -0700
Richard,
The body coating on most early Leica cameras was "Vulcanite", which is
hard rubber. I doubt that Vulcanized rubber would make
a good finish for amateur radio transmitters and receivers. They used
vacuum tubes and ran extremely hot. Really untouchable!
In fact, the tube type receiver in my radio controlled model airplane
ran too hot for the "doped" Silkspan covering.
I cannot visualize what type of finish Collins used on their high-end
gear. Wrinkle finish was ideal for high temperature use.
Best regards,
Jerry
On 7/24/2013 1:19 PM, Richard Knoppow wrote:
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jerry Lehrer" <glehrer@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 11:38 AM
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: OT Leica finish on radios
Richard,
Wow! Collins ham gear. Out of my league. AlI I could afford when i
got my license, was a Hammarlund (sp?) SW receiver. The only
transmitter
was for radio controlled model airplanes. This was in 1946.
Could that finish be Hammer-tone? That type of finish was used on
Leitz Ophthalmic and medical equipment.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
Jerry
There is a lot of Collins gear out there so someone must have been
rich enough to buy it but no one I knew. Its still too expensive
despite this stuff dating back to about the 1960's. The finish on the
S line is not hammertone but the fake leather sort of pebbled texture
used by Leica on many of its cameras. The story is that Art Collins
had a Leica and wanted a similar finish for the radios. There are
pictures on the web that show it pretty clearly. Collins and Bill
Halligan of Hallicrafters fame started in business at about the same
time in the depths of the depression. Halligan made mostly affordably
priced good quality equipment while Art Collins went after the most
affluent of the market. There were still people with lots of money
even in the early 1930s. Both succeeded. Their stories are available
on the web and make interesting reading for those interested in
entrapeneures.
Hallicrafters also used a rather elegant finish on a lot of their
early equipment. This is called "crackle", often confused with wrinkle
finish. Crackle looks like dried mud and was also used by General
Radio, a pioneer maker of laboratory grade electronic measurement
instruments. I think crackle was also supposed to mimic leather.
Anyway this is all very OT here but I am not surprized that you know
about radio equipment as well as cameras.
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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