Money can buy American card retainers for AE type 24 dials, but there are few legal chances to get one for a similar French dial. They are 3 mm larger.
The retaining rings are the first thing that misses on such a phone. Even before a moron cuts the cords, he'll rip out the card retainer :'(
I have made several attempts to make my own now, and the last one does not look all too bad I think. It uses the original fastening mechanism.
While I was at it, I also made one for an RTT 56, which accidentally got an American AE dial.
They look good - how did you make them please?
As time goes on any card retainer is rapidly increasing in price to Stupid money.
I've even thought about making some WE ones but, really haven't a clue where to start.
Would you be so kind as to let us in on how you managed to make yours? They look original to me, so your doing great at it.
Nicely done. :)
Milliput?
Full metal.
Starting point is inviting friends for a barbecue. Then the lids from the sauce bottles will become available for free. There are 2 common sizes, the American and the French one ;)
Remove center of lid. Then trim the sharp inner edge by rolling over a round bar, a large round chisel worked best in my case.
Mark on the outer rim of the lid where the fixing tabs shall be. Remove all excessive material between the tabs. Then bend tabs into position.
I used a step drill bit and an axial grinder to bore out the center, then a bench grinder and a small angle grinder for the outer rim.
I shall not be held responsible for drilled, ground or cut fingers 8)
As I mentioned I took a couple of approaches for a presentable result, and still can count to 10 using my fingers :)
QuoteFull metal...
Excellent.
Great idea.
Any photos of the process?
:)
Awesome! They look great! Yes, a detailed tutorial with pictures would be extremely helpful. We all need card retainers at some point.
I'll take photos next time.
The AE ship phone did not have a card retainer yet. So I made another one.
1+2 marking where the tabs are
3 finding the center of the lid. I have an angle bracket with a bisecting line, other methods will also work
4 punching the center
5 drilling with the step drill. The larger the diameter, the more the drill starts jamming. Time to use
6 the axial grinder.
1 after grinding out the center
2 trimming away the rubbery material inside the lid
3+4+5 trimming the inner edge. Work / roll against a solid round object, a big chisel placed in a vice worked good for me
6 starting to grind the outer rim on the bench grinder.
1 the shown position on the bench grinder worked best for me
2 do not grind away too much material, the bench grinder is quite aggressive
3 fine work with a thin disk on the angle grinder. A Dremel type of tool might be preferable
4 removing the burr with a fine file
5 result
6 bending the tabs in position.
1 painting
2 phone happy. D185 was the number of the ship.
Some remarks:
- it's not the real thing! When selling, better state there are repro components
- the diameter is not 100% correct. I used TO38 and TO43 lids. That's the diameter of the bottleneck, the OD of the lid is a little bigger, but smaller than the original retainer. Close, though. Not sure these dimensions are a worldwide standard or a EU thing?
-the rim is thicker. Original dial cards may be too big or not fully visible
-the material is thinner than the original
-the inner plate may be used to back up the dial card, when it is present. Where not, I used a second clear round plastic piece to back up the card. The nice fastening mechanism for the inner plate is not provided.
VERY NICE! Thanks for the detailed tutorial, excellent pictures. It looks great on the phone, never would guess it is not a factory part.