RCA Tube Caddy
Always something that I wanted to store tubes, this guy came with 55 tubes as well. Of the 7 tested they were good. It's been my experience that vintage tubes are usually good and work. Some work and sound better in guitar amps but generally they will work.
The Issue
The caddy had some serious structural problems. It had been stored in a wet/humid environment resulting in the plywood separation, it also seemed to be abused by its previous owner as several corners were damaged and repaired poorly with staples.
The Repair
After proper assessment the repair started by first removing all those silly staples and finishing nails. Then the vinyl covering was carefully peeled using water was to soften the vinyl glue and a putty knife to lift. Once the vinyl was out of the way, glue was slathered between the wood plys and clamped in place. Now that the wood is solid the corner was addressed. When the caddy was constructed they used finger joints and what fingers remained fit very well. More glue was applied and clamped in place. When cured plastic wood was used to fit the gaps and sanded flat. The vinyl was stretched to fit and tacky glue used to hold it in place.
The bottom was repaired in much the same way. Staples removed, vinyl peeled always, wood plys glued together, corners glued tight, vinyl reglued.
After this repair the caddy is strong and tight, There are a few sections of vinyl wrap arounds that need to be glued in place and the gaps are not perfect but the caddy is exception and will hold tubes for many years to come. I fact I used some black poster board to create a waffle matrix to hold tubes in the bottom section. It tubse out the was coincidently 55 cells for the 55 tubes that came with the caddy.
Photo History of the restoration here
