Studer 903A Restoration: Faders

I am averaging under 5 hours of sleep this week and 5.5 hours over the past month. Up for work at 7:30AM... then straight to the studio until 2AM... rinse and repeat. I don't think I have ever worked so hard at something before. It feels really good, but I am starting to crash.
Anyway, here's a little status update on the studio. I was hoping to be done for the end of the month... guess what? Not going to happen. Luckily, I left a month buffer for myself as I've been telling everyone to expect an opening in the new year. Even so, I'm getting a little nervous. I haven't mentioned this before, but I'm considering adding a large piece of equipment to the studio and I'm getting a bit concerned about running out of time. Since this weekend, I've been focusing on finishing the wiring. Mike is still working on fixing the patchbays to come out to the TASCAM dsub pinout and I am soldering xlrs, tuchel connectors, and fiddling with the console. As soon as I'm finished the console wiring, I'm going to spend a day or so getting the EMT140 finished and then it's console fixing time. Not really sure how I'm going to show you guys my console troubleshooting... maybe I'll have to vlog.

Well I promised faders today and faders there shall be. Excuse the lack of explanation. I've got to get out of here and back to work!

Accidental black and white? Nooooo... I call it art.

Clean vs dirty. The difference is even more so in real life.

Clean

My little toothbrush. Great for this kind of stuff since it's mini.

At this point, I had reapplied some oil to let the fader run smoothly. See below for more information.

Done the faders. This was the best picture I could find of them completed without giving it all away. I suck at this picture taking thing.

After some research, I found that it was widely frowned upon to use petroleum-based oils to lubricate the rails of a fader. I did some research and found this oil. I called Team Associated  (a remote-control car company) who referred me to the manufacturer. I called that manufacturer and they told me that this was 100% silicone oil. Perfect! The best part about this stuff is that it comes in a huge selection of weights which allow you to choose the physical resistance that the faders give you. I decided on 80wt.

 Well that's all for tonight. Now back to the studio... Have a good weekend.