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A Dilema, What Would You Do ?

Started by Dan/Panther, October 30, 2009, 08:25:35 PM

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Dan/Panther

A while back, I bought a Turquoise WE500, with a hard shell, and solid fingerwheel.
I just bought another one,  with a soft Shell, and soft center fingerwheel.
Only one problem, The Shell, and fingerwheel, both have small cracks.
What would you do, change the soft plastic parts, and repair, them, (it would be almost undetectable), or keep the original hard plastic parts on the phone?
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Dennis Markham

Dan, this may be a case of Aqua vs Turquoise.  Turquoise was introduced in 1964.  So the soft plastic set you just bought must be Aqua.  If it is Turquoise it is hard plastic.  I would leave the sets intact and repair the crack.  You can always find a replacement soft center finger wheel somewhere down the road if the one you have is not repairable.  How does the color look on the inside of the soft plastic set?  What's the date?

ntophones

What's the difference between hard and soft shell? Well, I know one is hard, the other soft, but, what materials make them that way? Are they both plastic?
--nto

Dan/Panther

Dennis;
I think you may be right it is lighter, so it must be aqua.
I'm just going to keep the Turquoise phone as is, it's dated 3-60.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

bingster

Quote from: ntophones on October 30, 2009, 09:08:02 PM
What's the difference between hard and soft shell? Well, I know one is hard, the other soft, but, what materials make them that way? Are they both plastic?

The soft plastic is Tenite, and the hard plastic is ABS.  The soft plastics were phased out in 1959, in favor of the hard plastic.
= DARRIN =



McHeath

QuoteWhat's the difference between hard and soft shell? Well, I know one is hard, the other soft, but, what materials make them that way? Are they both plastic?

Tenite is based on wood pulp and not on fossil fuels like ABS plastic is.  Tenite was big in the 30's to 50's, and is still used in some applications today.  I've thought that with all the emphasis on being "green" in the world today that natural plastic materials made from renewable resources like Tenite would make a comeback, but I guess the oil for making ABS and it's associated plastics remains cheaper. 

Tenite has a funny cheesy smell, almost like parmesan.  Once you smell it you know it forever.  I've heard that the black soft plastics smell louder than the colored ones, but I don't know for sure as I've never had a soft plastic phone in a color other than black. 


foots

  McHeath, I have 2 soft plastic black phones and a white one. None of my phones have any smell whatsoever.
  To answer Dan/P's question, I'd follow Dennis' advice.
"Ain't Worryin' 'Bout Nothin"

bellsystemproperty

I'd just keep the soft plastic. You can't expect these phones to be look perfect after 50 years. I'm sure won't look perfect after 50 years either.  ;D

bwanna

d/p.......leave as is....... the queen has spoken ;) ;D ::)

joshua, i can't smell the cheese either.  ............(&no jokes about cutting the cheese, please :-\)
donna

ntophones

Could you post pictures of the two?
THanks for the info about plastic--I just eat this stuff up!
nto
--nto

JorgeAmely

Tenite was introduced by Eastman Kodak in the 1930s. It is still in production, but no longer used for phones. Some screwdrivers made by Sears (craftsman) have handles made of this stuff.

This website has a lot of interesting information about Tenite:

http://www.eastman.com/Brands/Tenite/Pages/Overview.aspx

Bakelite was another plastic used by phone manufacturers. There is an article in Wikipedia that mentions that the US Government even considered using it for making coins after WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic#Bakelite

I could not find when ABS plastic was designed, but I am sure it was cheaper than Tenite and some accountant got a good raise for convincing companies to switch to it.

If you magnify the text section of the attached photo, you can read about some of the good qualities of Tenite. This is from a magazine published in the 1930s. I don't know the title of the magazine.
Jorge

Dan/Panther

Quote from: bwanna on October 31, 2009, 09:19:01 AM
d/p.......leave as is....... the queen has spoken ;) ;D ::)

joshua, i can't smell the cheese either.  ............(&no jokes about cutting the cheese, please :-\)

Darn, we have to make a rule about people leaving themselves wide open, then adding a disclaimer, some of us this is the highlight of our day...  :(:'(

What they didn't add was the fact that almost everything made out of Tenite would be worthless in a few years.

D/P


The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

foots

Quote from: bwanna on October 31, 2009, 09:19:01 AM
d/p.......leave as is....... the queen has spoken ;) ;D ::)

joshua, i can't smell the cheese either.  ............(&no jokes about cutting the cheese, please :-\)

  You could smell the cheese if you'd just remove your shoes  :o  (you asked for it) Happy Holloween

  Dan/P, as you can see, I've  found a loophole in her disclaimer and used it my advantage   ;)   

 
"Ain't Worryin' 'Bout Nothin"

bwanna

d/p sorry for spoiling your fun >:(....... next time i will leave the door wide open, but that's kind of like throwing the game, isn't it ???

very good usage of the loophole, joshua ;)

back to the serious side, thank you, jorge, for the research :)
donna

Dan/Panther

Quote from: bwanna on October 31, 2009, 09:35:58 PM
d/p sorry for spoiling your fun >:(....... next time i will leave the door wide open, but that's kind of like throwing the game, isn't it ???

very good usage of the loophole, joshua ;)

back to the serious side, thank you, jorge, for the research :)

I don't want yon to throw rthe game, just throw the ball down the middle and take your chances.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson