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Cracked blue 302

Started by ETS1979, March 06, 2010, 11:42:35 PM

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ETS1979

The white spot is embedded.  It is the  result of "frayed" plastic being glued.  I was able to reduce other similar areas lower in the crack by using a fine tip brush and acetone.  That helped "fuse" the rough torn edges.  But I could not get the brush into the end of the crack without extreme risk of making it worse.  There are similar white spots on the backside crack.

I have posted new photos on the "My Collection" thread.

JorgeAmely

ETS:

Good "acetone" tip. Too much of it is not good. I once tried to fix a crack on ABS with acetone and it worked perfectly as a glue. A similar crack on Tenite (soft plastic) worked, but the acetone sometimes causes the release of gases inside the plastic and gave the sealed gap a frothy look.

Jorge

baldopeacock

Would using a disposable syringe with a fine needle get the acetone into the area where it's needed without further widening the crack?

Phonesrfun

I am wondering if this is being over-engineered.  Is it possible to mix up some Testor's model paint to get the right color and fill it in with that?  Seems like that would fill any remaining small cracks and also cover over the white irregularities.  Or am I suggesting a band-aid approach?

-Bill G

baldopeacock

I don't think ET has done any sanding on the repairs yet, so that may also reduce or get rid of the visible imperfections.   

JorgeAmely

ETS' idea of using a small brush with acetone to create a "blue paint" is excellent. Take a close look at the gap in his last picture and you will see how it is covered by what looks like thick paint.

You could use a rib from inside the phone to create this colored paint.

Jorge

ETS1979

#36
Hello everyone.  Sorry I haven't posted anything for quite a while.  I've had some health issues (sciatic nerve pain) and have had quite a few problems with the blue 302 I've been working on.  To make a long story short, I've had to pretty much start over from scratch trying to find ways to get the plastic on this phone to look good.  If you look at the photo,  you may be able to see some ripples in the plastic along the bottom edge of the large glare at the top of the phone.  As strange as it may seem, if I polish too much, I end up with white streaks that look like scuff marks where those ripples are. It's as if the plastic wasn't blended well enough before it was poured into the mold.   So I will have to live with a few "cobweb" scratches to keep the scuffs from appearing.  Also please note the new crack that has appeared in an unlikely place on the lower left.   It was not on the phone when I got it.  The only thing I can figure is that it appeared during some time that I was doing some aggressive polishing and it flexed in the wrong way. Very upsetting, to say the least.  So this whole side of the phone is polished and I can begin working on the other portions of the phone.  So far I have about 25 hours invested.

McHeath

Ouch on that new crack! :'(  I've had that happen as well.

I've also had a blue phone with some white streaks show up when polished, it seemed to be as you say, leftover from a poorly mixed batch of blue plastic.  Not much can be done there, sadly.

However, the phone is looking great, you have done good work on it.  It's old plastic and was never made to last into the 21st century, so you can feel good about rescuing it for the future.

Sorry to hear about the nerve pain, hope it manages down. 

baldopeacock

Got to see this phone in person Friday night when I paid a short visit to ET and my hometown.

The new crack that's appeared is more apparent in the photo than it is in person - it isn't that noticeable, or it wasn't to me.

McHeath makes a very good point.... this is some old plastic and has already far exceeded whatever life expectancy Ma Bell would have had for it.   ET has preserved it for the future, it's a rare bird anyway, and it's going to look and work great.

Keep on shinin' that beauty, ET. 

Dennis Markham

Sorry about that crack but despite that it's a beautiful phone.  Twenty-five hours on one side?!  That's amazing.  It looks flawless.  Can't wait to see the finished product.

baldopeacock

#40
Quote from: Dennis Markham on July 01, 2010, 11:17:48 PM
Sorry about that crack but despite that it's a beautiful phone.  Twenty-five hours on one side?!  That's amazing.  It looks flawless.  Can't wait to see the finished product.


Dennis, if you go back to the top of this thread he posted pics of the phone as acquired.  There were some nasty and discolored cracks in two corners of this case.   His 25 hours includes the time spent repairing the cracks, and having held the thing in my hand the other night - those cracks are completely gone.   It's amazing work on his part.

Sitting in ET's garage is a black Camaro that he bought new about 31 years ago, it has 32K miles on it and it's had the same treatment as his phones for all 31 years, if that gives you some insight into how meticulous the guy is.   The house these phones live in is an amazingly preserved 1952 time capsule as well.   ET and I go way back, college days.   Slap me if you need to, ET, but you do good work.

JorgeAmely

I couldn't agree with you more, baldopeacock. These old phones have outlived the original designer, manufacturers and first time users, most likely. The fact that ETS has been able to bring it back to 99% of what is was long time ago is excellent proof of how well designed they are.

ETS, don't get hung up on a scratch here or there; it gives them character. Sometimes leaving something behind is a difference between a good restoration or getting yourself in a corner you can't get out of.

To prevent excessive flexing of the body while polishing them back, I use an old base with painters masking tape all around so the housing fits nice and snugly. I tighten the screws and polish away with little flexing. With bakelite phones, I stuff a bunch of rags inside the housing to eliminate vibrations that could crack the housing.

Just my 2 cents. You are the envy of the group and I am looking forward to see lots of blue pictures soon.  :) :) :)

Jorge

ETS1979

#42
Thanks for all the words of encouragement.  I've spent a lot of time talking about my blue 302's faults.  Maybe I should talk about some of its virtues for a change.  The metal base plate is in excellent original condition.  Except for repainting the steel bells, all I did was spray it with contact cleaner and aerosol keyboard duster.  The leather feet were in pretty good condition. I cleaned them and touched up a couple of blemishes with matching color oil based Minwax stain.

The dial plate is almost perfect.  There are a couple of small scratches not visible in the photo.  This suggests that when this phone was in service it was very lightly used.  Though the dial white paint had only minor chips, it had yellowed quite a bit so I decided to give it a light coat of white paint.  To prevent overspray on the bottom, I place the dial in an upside down aerosol cap.  It fits perfectly.

I think the blue plastic has almost no shrinkage.  During disassembly the base came off the case very easily.  Removal of the transmitter and receiver elements from the handset caps also was easy.   I've had trouble with the handest pieces on previous phones.  A solution I came up with was to carefully heat the plastic with a hairdryer and then quickly spray cold keyboard duster on the metal element to help unstick them.  The clear plungers also move very freely.  I guess this makes the cracks around the bottom of the case all the more puzzling as there was no apparent impact damage.


JorgeAmely

Very nice, ETS. I can't wait for the final results.

I have used Kiwi's Leather Scuff Cover, brown color, (with extra scuff coverage) to touch up leather feet. It works well, but for the lighter shades of leather. Most leathers make a good comeback with just a moist rag. This product is available at Walmart.

For lighter shades of leather, there is a product Dennis recommends, but I can't remember the name. It is a spray can with a special cap to work up the leather texture.

Jorge

ETS1979

Here is a better picture of the scuffs-streaks that appear with using ultra fine car polish/wax.  Going back to rubbing compound makes them disappear.