Classic Rotary Phones Forum

Seeing where this thread  http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=3667.0 was going (bakelite repair) I forwarded it to Barry Collins and asked if he had time to show us some of his work. Hopefully he will get the time to show us some pictures of his work and techniques "between phone restorations".

Several years ago Barry sent me a quick pictorial of a bakelite repair he had done and I was amazed. This would be a worthy phone to restore as while there do seem to be a surprising number of AE34's around, this is only the second one I have seen with the hand hold lift area in the case.

Barry is phone-sweep on ebaY

http://feedback.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=phone-sweep&ftab=AllFeedback

Thanks Barry,

Terry

EDIT: Since this thread was split away from a previous thread I've copied two pictures of Dave F's broken AE 34 into here as a reference. There is a link to the previous thread at the top of this post.

Terry

---

Doug, Terry:  thanks. :)

Terry:  I still have a copy of that post and I'll repost it here:

********************************

An "Ebay special" with a chipped and cracked corner conveniently left out of the listing photos (is everyone on Ebay a crook?).  This time it's a 684 Ringerbox:



Did you see the crack?  Right here?:



The crack must be removed.  To do a repair, the crack must be turned into a chip.

Pliers.

Snap!

Ouch!:



Need a "form".  Cut up milk jug plastic and electrical tape will do:




Eye of newt:



Wing of bat:



Mix it all together.  Add hardener.

The 1st "pass":



The 1st pass filed/sanded:



The 2nd pass:



The 2nd pass filed/sanded:



Just a few more passes to try to remove the remaining imperfections and air bubbles.

File, file, file.

Sand, sand, sand.

Buff, buff, buff.

Finished:



On the wall block:



"Oh, yeah?  What's the inside look like":



A Kellogg spitcup that's seen better days (before):




After:




A big thanks to Chuck Richards for the technique....


*********************

I might add, I used to add powdered bakelite into the resin but I don't anymore.  I came to the conclusion that I really don't need it.  The resin alone leaves a shinier-than-the-bakelite finish but the tradeoff is that is adheres better.  Also, frequently there would be air bubbles that would surface on the resin while it hardened and would detract from the finish.  I now use a small Dremel fitting to drill into these tiny spots and then refill with more resin.  Don't know the name/number of th Dremel fitting but it looks like this:



You can control the drilling a lot better with this than a regular small drill bit.

More later.

Barry

Also, another thought is that I would have handled the running crack on the bakelite ringerbox differently (that post was 5 years ago and I was still learning).  Today, I would grind into the crack with a Dremel reinforced cutoff wheel and then fill with resin....

Man, why does the text start bouncing around when typing into a full reply box?  Is there a fix for this?

AMAZING!!! Its Magic. I have never seen anything like it. Dave's AE 34 is not dead yet, simply amazing....Doug

Barry, Welcome to the Forum.  Thank you for your posting about the Bakelite repair.  Makes me want to run out and get everything and start learning.  It's amazing the transformation that you made on the ringer box and the spit cup.  I look forward to learning more about it.

As far as the cursor jumping, we had complaints of that a while ago.  I think it turned that it only happened with certain versions of Windows or browsers.  I will research the problem again with Simple-Machines (the software for the Forum) and see if there is a cure for that.  Sorry for the inconvenience it causes.

My text is half off of the screen

As for the cursor jumping, and if you are running Windows Internet Explorer, you need to set this website for "Compatibility mode".  Once set, it will stay set on whatever computer you are on.  It works great for me.  The compatibility mode icon is the little broken page icon right next to the refresh arrows up in the top toolbar.  You can also go to IE help and find it there.  I have found that using compatibility mode on some other websites makes them a little tamer too.

Here we were learning about bakelite repair thanks to Barry and I've now (hopefully) solved my jumpy cursor problem! I thought it was just me or my computer and never really knew how to begin to describe what was happening so I never bothered to ask.

I'm the type that posts something and then goes back  about 8 times fixing typo's and expanding upon (or deleting) what I've said. That is where it would become like typing in the dark! Drove me nuts! Thanks to Barry for asking and Dennis / Bill for "splainin".

Terry

Thanks Bill, I thought we discussed that in the past and that we concluded some browsers caused the problem individually.

I just did a quick "test" modification to my last post after clicking the compatibility mode button that Bill mentioned. I only ever had the problem when modifying an existing post. Early reports are that it has solved my problem. I'm using what ever version of "Internet Exploder" (IE-8 I think) that comes with Office 2007 on this computer.
Terry

Quote from: Kidphone on October 25, 2010, 03:24:35 PM
AMAZING!!! Its Magic. I have never seen anything like it. Dave's AE 34 is not dead yet, simply amazing....Doug

I'll second that -- AMAZING!!

Is the dye a Bondo product as well?  Are these standard items available at places like Pep Boys?  If not, where do I look for it?

Thanks a bunch for the tech support on the "inverse typewriter effect".  I'm using IE8/Windows 7 - I'll try the  compatibility mode ... It was driving me nuts..

Dave: The black dye is made by Alumilite Corporation of Kalamazoo, MI.  You should be able to get some here:

http://www.artmolds.com/product_details.cfm?product_id=218&page=0&cat_name=Resin%2FUrethane%20Dyes

You probably only need 1 oz. of the black.  I've been using the same 1 oz for the last 5 years...

Here's a photo of my usual setup for bakelite repairs (finishing tools not included):



I'm using the Bondo resin in a can these days (Wal-mart, auto-parts store).  Tube of hardener is next to the can.  (What is not shown is that I usually transfer some of the resin into an empty plastic Coke bottle so it is easier to pour).  Bathroom cups/paper plates/toothpicks (grocery store) and popsicle sticks (ebay, art supply).  I usually add a tiny amount of resin into the cup - just enough to barely cover the bottom of the cup - and then dip a popsicle stick into the bottle of dye.  You don't need much dye at all - a drop at most.  Mix well.  At this point, you've got a tiny batch of blackened resin in a cup that is awaiting the hardener.  Make sure your pieces to be repaired are cleaned, ready to go and nearby.  Now, the hardener can be frustrating as the recommended amounts never have worked for me.  Not sure why but I tend to think the black dye has a neutralizing effect on the hardener.  Therefore, the less dye you use, the less hardener you will need.  About three drops average  of the hardener is what I use.  Too much hardener and the resin will bubble and not enough and well, the resin never solidifies.  At any rate, if your resin and dye amount is what I put forth above, then about 3 drops hardener ought to do it.  Add the hardener and mix well with the popsicle stick.  Now, you've got about 5-10 minutes to apply the resin and it will be runny.  For filling large areas, I apply the resin with the popsicle stick.  For small fill areas (fleabites), I apply the resin with a toothpick.  For something in between, I'll break the point off the toothpick and use that.  Let dry and cure for 24 hrs.  Sometimes a chip will need two or three "fills" before it is ready to be sanded on.  The resin is runny (at first) so some chips need to be "stacked" with resin fills.  You will need to position the piece to maximize the fill and keep the resin from dripping away.  After about 3 hours or so, the resin should be solid.  If not, it probably won't make it so you have to scrape off the fill and clean the piece again and add more hardener the next time.  (Side note:  A paper plate and a popsicle stick are a great way to mix JB Weld if you ever use that product).

Upon further research, the little specialty Dremel bit I referred to in the post above is called Dremel #125 (ebay).  If you noticed in the ringerbox repair above, the resin finish at one point looked like it was "salted" with white specks.  If you take this Dremel bit and drill into each little salt speck, you can remove them and then refill these larger holes with more black resin applied with a toothpick - like one drop per hole.  Then sand and buff.  Repeat until all the specks are gone.  On small fills, quite often this step is not needed. 

I think bakelite repair really works best on chips, small fill-ins, short cracks.  Chipped handsets, mouthpieces, spitcups, ear and transmit caps etc, all work well for these quickie fill-ins.  Just fill, wait 24 hrs for the fill to harden and cure, and then sand and buff.

Dave, your phone is umm, very challenging.  It is by far the toughest repair one can do.  The housing can be reassembled well enough but that detailed area around the vents will probably never be quite the same.  If I were attempt it, step one would be to be to super-glue the big parts back together taking care everything is properly lined up.  Maybe use a clamp like this:



Try a dry run with the clamp and see if it will work.  If not, you'll have to manually hold the parts together for a couple of minutes till the Superglue takes.  The way I Superglue bakelite (and plastic) is to put a liberal amount on both pieces and then stick them together, quickly wipe away the excess (which leaves a smear but needs to be done) and then continue holding.  After a minute or two, you can let go.  Bakelite soaks up the superglue so having too much is better than not enough.  Give it max 24 hrs to cure and then you can sand away the smear marks with some 600 grit sandpaper.  At this point, you could buff the housing with PBC (plastic buffing compound) and call it done.  If you want to address the still visible crack, then you'll need to break out the resin.  (Side note:  Supergluing plastic works really well.  There's almost enough exotherm from the superglue to "weld" the plastic.  Not quite welded but it's close.  If it is done well, it will look more like scratch than a crack after you're done.  Same procedure - sand and buff the finish.  I've repaired many a 302 cracked corner this way).

More later.

Barry

Thanks for all the great info Barry.  It certainly has got me thinking about the possibilities!

Dave:  To further add to this, TBH, I've only attempted  major bakelite repair a couple of times.  Once on a Type 32 ringerbox base - the bakelite base was cracked in half - and another time on a AE40 that had a huge crack across the backend .



My technique in both cases was to take a Dremel with the reinforced fiber cutoff wheel and grind into the crack about an 1/8" deep essentially making a little gully down the length of the crack.  Fill with resin and then sand and buff.  It removes the crack but you're left with a kind of a strange, shiny seam.  Here's how the AE40 turned out after doing this:



Now, a couple of things about this picture:  It really didn't look that bad in real life.  I purposely showed it in a bad light (and digital cameras are terrific at this) because I sold this phone on eBay.  I mentioned the repair in the listing and I didn't want the customer to have any illusions about the repaired housing, i.e. I didn't want the customer to be shocked about buying a phone with a repaired housing.   In real life, at first glance, you don't notice the repair but if you examine closely, it becomes apparent.  You mentioned you might consider coating/painting your AE34 housing and this would, of course, further hide the repair.

One other thing that needs mentioning:  When filling a gully,  after the resin dries, you can actually pull apart the bakelite pieces on the opposite side.   Imagine a welder welding two perpendicular pieces of plate metal.  If the welder welds just one side, the perpendicular plate will lean mightily in the direction of the weld.  Therefore, good welders know to tack the backside in a couple of spots to prevent this from happening (or alternatively welding one side and then the other).  Same thing goes for bakelite.  If possible, grind out and put a couple of resin "tacks" on the inside to hold it in place.  This is why I suggested supergluing the pieces together as the first step - it should help keep this from happening.

Barry

I should mention that this is the extent of my technical knowledge on bakelite repairs at this point in time.  If there are other, better ways of doing things or if science comes up with something new, I would love to hear them.  Today's basket case might be fixable with tomorrow's science....

If you have some success with repairing bakelite, it will change the way you look at auctions....  For example, a 302 phone with a big ol' chip in the handset might turn off a lot of buyers.  I see the chip and think, "no problem"...  ;)

I know I'm getting way ahead of myself here, but I've been thinking some about the broken grill slot situation.  Assuming that I can reassemble the main parts of the housing using super glue and resin, how about this for the grill:  First, find a good spare AE34 housing (which I believe I do have).  Coat the grill slots with some sort of non-stick material (Pam, Vaseline, etc).  Then, from the inside of the housing, make a mold of the grill slots using silicone rubber or maybe even Play-Doh.  Carefully remove the resulting mold and install it inside the broken housing, and then use your resin to fill in the broken parts of the slot area from the outside.  Play-Doh, which is water-soluble even after it hardens, could then be removed by soaking the housing in water after the resin sets.  Sand,sand, sand, and voila -- new slots.  This is just a preliminary thought and, of course, your mileage may vary.  Maybe somebody out there can refine this into something that might actually work.

Dave, I think that you would want to make a mold of the outside of the grill. That is how you would capture the details of it. There are many sources for supplies but check this one out first.
> http://www.alumilite.com/index.cfm <

Have you had time to determine if some of your grill pieces are actually AWOL? Obviously having the original pieces is best but another possibility that I have seen done is to cannibalize pieces out of an otherwise smashed housing. I would assume that these pieces in the 34 are identical to a 40 or 50 as well. There are no shortage of smashed housings out there to cut them from and with carefull cutting and gluing you might be in good shape. Check Ray K's garbage can on garbage day. I know he occasionally sells otherwise good AE housings after he removes all the parts he needs for his creations but he likely obtains as many smashed housings as possible to cannibalize the other parts from.

The vents in the bottom of AE50's frequently get smashed up as they are longer than the vents on the sides of 34's, 40's & 50's. I have seen a fairly good repair to the vents on the bottom of a 50 by cutting out the entire grill section from an otherwise smashed 50 housing and gluing it into the 50 that had the smashed grill.

Terry

Actually, I looked into mold-making about 5 years ago precisely for restoring the grills on some AE50's I had.  I contacted the people at www.artmolds.com, sent  them some pics and they recommended this kit for the job (complete with 2005 catalog):






Part A, Part B and mixing cup.

Came in a box called "FXRite12".  It is 2-part silicone rubber kit.  Both Part A (Rubber) and Part B (Catalyst) look to be milky white liquids but Part A is definitely rubbery.  One thing led to another and I never got around to using this stuff and it says it has a shelf life of 6 months.....so I think I'm a little late.  Eheh.  Seems like I paid about $28-$30 for this.  Visiting their website, I can't find this kit anymore so I suspect it is this one (http://www.artmolds.com/product_details.cfm?product_id=143&page=0&cat_name=Molding%20Supplies&u_cat=24) renamed "SkinRite10".  The particulars seem to match.  Price has gone up, too - now $43.95 for the pint kit.

I suppose what you do here, is build a small mold box - maybe 3" x 11", fill it with the mix, and then submerge the side of good AE50 housing into it just deep enough to cover the vent bars.  I still might try this even though it is "expired"...

Artmolds.com is kind of a strange website in that they seem to be dedicated to recreating body parts for movies and whatnot but there is another product that they have that seems interesting - a 5 minute Playdoh-like stuff - Five Minute Molding Putty (http://www.artmolds.com/product_details.cfm?product_id=223&page=0&cat_name=Molding%20Supplies&u_cat=24).  No mold box needed - this might be the one to try....

Barry

Quote from: ae_collector on October 27, 2010, 01:16:17 PM
Have you had time to determine if some of your grill pieces are actually AWOL? Obviously having the original pieces is best but another possibility that I have seen done is to cannibalize pieces out of an otherwise smashed housing. I would assume that these pieces in the 34 are identical to a 40 or 50 as well. There are no shortage of smashed housings out there to cut them from and with carefull cutting and gluing you might be in good shape. Check Ray K's garbage can on garbage day. I know he occasionally sells otherwise good AE housings after he removes all the parts he needs for his creations but he likely obtains as many smashed housings as possible to cannibalize the other parts from.

The vents in the bottom of AE50's frequently get smashed up as they are longer than the vents on the sides of 34's, 40's & 50's. I have seen a fairly good repair to the vents on the bottom of a 50 by cutting out the entire grill section from an otherwise smashed 50 housing and gluing it into the 50 that had the smashed grill.

Terry

Honestly, at this moment I wouldn't even know where to start looking for the broken pieces of the grill.  I would have put them into a bag and stored them somewhere, but with the mess I've got, who knows where!

I did consider cutting the entire grill section off of another housing and transplanting it into the broken one.  That might actually work pretty well, but I should gain some experience with the resin procedures and with cutting Bakelite before destroying the only other 34 housing I have!

By the way, thanks to all who have inserted their 2¢ into this discussion.  This AE34 was not important at the time I was hot for the ivory 305. When the 34 arrived broken, I seriously considered stripping out the good parts and simply throwing away the housing.  Now (thanks to you folks on this Forum), I'm glad I chose to keep it.  Clearly, this is a worthwhile example to try to save, and at some point in the future that's just what I will attempt to do.

If you don't already have the equipment to do castings it might be easier to do a transplant. I know that with a lot of castings you need a vacuum chamber & a pressure pot to get you resin to work correctly. I think that D/P has done castings before. Maybe he will chirp in on this discussion.

Quote from: Dave F on October 28, 2010, 01:25:20 PM
but I should gain some experience with the resin procedures and with cutting Bakelite before destroying the only other 34 housing I have!

If you decide to do some transplant work, don't chop up your good 34. There are lots and lots of busted housings out there that still have good sections of the grill/vents. I think that a 40 would be identical in that area but am not positive, need to check. I definitely have smashed 40's so I could send you a busted up case to play with and do a transplant.

I would love to find a 34 with the handhold for my AE collection and I frequently look for basket cases although not usually quite as much of a "basket case" as this one is. If you had taken me up on the trade offer early in this discussion, I could see it sitting around on one of my shelves with the pieces "taped" together for a long time. Either that or I'd send it to Barry!

Terry

Terry,

I won't cut up the good 34 case.  When the time comes to work on this project I'll give you guys a holler and drum up some old junker that still has good grills.  It does appear that, with a considerable amount of time and effort, this phone actually could be repaired (or at least substantially improved).

Dave

Handset for my A1
used Locktite Black Max and a dark filler to rebuild the rec end. The contact ring was broken out and I had to solder it back and glue it in place.Note this is not an E1 but a D 80370
Robby

---

Another easy way to do very strong repairs is use JB Quick weld resin.  Its very strong and standable.

Quote from: phone-sweep on October 25, 2010, 03:21:30 PM
Also, another thought is that I would have handled the running crack on the bakelite ringerbox differently (that post was 5 years ago and I was still learning).  Today, I would grind into the crack with a Dremel reinforced cutoff wheel and then fill with resin....

Man, why does the text start bouncing around when typing into a full reply box?  Is there a fix for this?

Barry - What brand name do you use for the PBC (plastic buffing compound)  and where can I buy it?  Also, what do you use to buff it?
Thanks ! - Gerald

Quote from: phone-sweep on October 25, 2010, 03:21:30 PM
Also, another thought is that I would have handled the running crack on the bakelite ringerbox differently (that post was 5 years ago and I was still learning).  Today, I would grind into the crack with a Dremel reinforced cutoff wheel and then fill with resin....

Man, why does the text start bouncing around when typing into a full reply box?  Is there a fix for this?

Quote from: phoneaddict on July 21, 2013, 07:54:36 PMMan, why does the text start bouncing around when typing into a full reply box?  Is there a fix for this?

That's a very good question. Hopefully Dennis can shed some light on that, again. It's been discussed before, I think, but can't find the thread right now.

I use 6 different computers to access the forum. I have that problem on some but not the others. I get around it by using Word or WordPad to type my text and then cut and paste it into the reply box. That's easier than having the box jump to the top of the reply each time a key stroke is entered. This little notebook I am using right now and my main desktop works fine. My basement Dell desktop and wife's laptop have that problem.

Yeah, 6 computers because they last forever but as the size of software programs grow, that makes them obsolete, but still useable for internet access. Maybe that's a new disease - computeritis . . .  ;)

Need to click the compatibility mode button (looks like a broken page) up top of Internet Explorer.

I went looking for where the jumpy screen was discussed and was surprised to find the discussion right here in THIS TOPIC! Go back to reply #4 and then Bill nailed it in reply #6.

Terry

Quote from: AE_Collector on July 21, 2013, 09:15:40 PMI went looking for where the jumpy screen was discussed and was surprised to find the discussion right here in THIS TOPIC! Go back to reply #4 and then Bill nailed it in reply #6.

Small world, eh, Terry?

Thanks for finding it, right under our cursors, so to speak. This will help me, and hopefully others, on my older, limited memory running versions of Windows where I have that problem. Seem to recall those are the machines where I've had that problem.

My two cents worth on this subject...

For those who may live in Australia, or the UK  or indeed anywhere the products so far mentioned may not be common...I have experimented with repairing bakelite phones over many years and have  come up with a very simple method which does not involve tinting the filler material.

For simple cracks I use a good cyanoacrylate (superglue) such as Loctite 495 which is a universal instant adhesive. As has been mentioned any exposed glue will polish up quite shiny but depending on the visibility this may not be a problem. This glue is also a great filler for cracks in plastic (ABS) phones.

For chips and major repairs I use a product called Milliput http://www.hobbytools.com.au/putties-fillers-or-epoxy-for-modelling/

This is a UK product but should be available elsewhere.  It is a 2 part epoxy which can be obtained in different colours. Obviously bakelite is black so go for this item. Small chips don't require support formwork but larger areas will do - this has been covered in  previous answer. One major advantage of Milliput is that it is water soluble when mixed so it can be easily smoothed and shaped over with a dampened knife blade or other sculpting tool and when cured it is rock hard and can be filed and sanded. One thing any filler can't do no matter what you use is to correctly match the original colour of the item being repaired so painting is a necessary part of the final process.

The best paint for finishing bakelite is Anchor brand gloss black spray lacquer http://clampline.com.au/product/read/anchor-lacquer-gloss-black-300g/3796/

I haven't a clue whether it is available in the US or UK but I assume that it is - or at least a similar product will be. The beauty of this paint is that it is so easy to use without any of the problems I have experienced with other paints - such as orange-peeling due to some tiny speck of contaminant on the surface. Provided that you use clean water containing a good household cleaner such as Domestos http://www.domestos.com.au/product/detail/997053/domestos-disinfectant-original-125l when you carry out your final wet or dry sanding operation with 1200 grit (800 grit makes for a faster cut) https://www.carbatec.com.au/sanding-and-finishing/sand-papers-and-rolls/sand-paper-sheets/standard-sheets/wet-and-dry-sandpaper-1200-grit before a final rinse off with the hose, the painting process will go like a breeze. You must avoid hand contact on the surface to be painted. Suspend the item on a stiff wire through a convenient hole or other method so that you can move around it (or rotate it) while painting. Use a hot air gun to blow dry blow the item - around 270 deg C - and then give it a good brush over with a clean nylon bristle paint brush to remove any specks of dust.

Note: Domestos may not be available in some countries but is is essentially a cleaner/disinfectant based on Sodium Hypochlorite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestos so I'm sure similar products are easily obtained no matter where you are. Id not then simply use an alternative and making sure that you avoid handling after the final rinse. Spray paint does not like any contaminant.

The hot air gun treatment warms the item and helps the lacquer to set quickly with less chance of runs occurring. Now If all goes well there should be no orange peeling or beading due to surface contamination when you apply the paint.  After spraying a liberal coating, again apply the hot air gun treatment, moving over the entire surface without concentrating too long in one spot. After 10 - 15 minutes of hot air the lacquer will be fairly well baked. Now allow the item to cool for a while so  you can then carry out further wet sanding if required. Give it another coat of paint if required until a perfect finish is achieved.

I have used other paints such as White Knight Rustguard epoxy and while it cures to an excellent hard surface it takes a long time to cure before you can continue work on it again - even after the hot air treatment. It is also less tolerant of any contaminants than the Anchor spray lacquer and will run more easily if over-applied in one area. It is not uncommon for me to be so dissatisfied with the end results using epoxy that I have resorted to using paint stripper to remove all applied paint and sanding down to the original bakelite surface before starting over again.

Before polishing the finished paintwork I give the surface a final wet rub-down with 1200 grit paper to remove any minor blemishes which will take a lot longer to polish out otherwise. I use a good metal polish which has a small amount of silicone in it and after buffing the finish is better than when the item first came off the production line.

On the subject of polish:
Some will be horrified and say, "never use a silicone based polish", but I find it difficult to imagine how the infinitesimally small amount of silicone remaining after buffing the outer surface of a bakelite telephone casing, can travel all the way inside and then make its way into the internal electrical contacts where it may be subjected to arcing, and thus cause a problem. Sure, I know it did happen when silicone based lubricants were used way back in the late 60's in exchange switching equipment, but the amount of silicone in those products was huge by comparison and it was fairly liberally applied by careless techs. It is no wonder it migrated everywhere and caused contact insulation problems. Indeed, there was a very good reason for banning its use as a lubricant around electrical contacts, especially when it was being applied in this manner. But in a small concentration in an external polish which is finally buffed away I think it is stretching a long bow to suggest it can cause a problem in a telephone - I know it is possible but I doubt it would happen. Anyway, if the phone is purely a collector item then it hardly matters.

JB Quick Weld is also good for repairing Bakelite and early thermoplastics, particularly
if they are black in finish...

It dries to a black color and sets in a hour, curing after 24 hours and may also be sanded, painted.

Only particular word of advice is it begins bonding quickly, so be sure you get it where you want it to be fairly quickly.

Phone-sweep,

I read with interest your post on CRPF regarding repairing bakelite with dyed Bondo resin.  First of all, well done!  I want my repairs to look like that!  I am going to start practicing this afternoon.  I am going to try India Ink as my dye and see if the Bondo resin will solidify.

My question is about the finish on the spit cup.  It started out chipped and brownish and ended up smooth and glossy black.  I understand the principle behind repairing the chip but how did you get rid of the brownish color and make it glossy?  If you are willing to share your trade secrets, I will do my best to replicate the effect on the phones in my tiny collection.

Thank you,

Tina Loyd