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What should I do about crack in Rose Beige number matching telephone?

Started by Scott, January 28, 2019, 09:20:01 AM

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Scott

The first photo is of the cleaned up WE Rose Beige numbers matching phone I received at the beginning of the month. The photo doesn't do it justice. It is really pretty and in overall good condition. I have to marvel at the high quality of manufacturing these phones were made. After all these years and a little cleaning of the dial it works great and of course the ringer could wake the dead. There is a crack on one side and it doesn't show as much in person as it does in the photos. My question is, do I leave it alone? Do I glue it and if so with what? If I do then do I try sanding the outside? (I have never done that). Opinions and advice appreciated.

Scott K.

Key2871

My thought is if it's not completely separated, leave it.
You could try a liquid plastic cement to fill the gap and help hold it, but it very well could show. Meaning you will have to lightly sand and repolish the plastic to blend it in.
Maybe some one else will have another idea.

Ken
KEN

Scott

Maybe this will the photo of the cleaned up phone. Sorry.

Scott K.

TelePlay

     GLOBAL MODERATOR POST

Quote from: Scott on January 28, 2019, 09:20:01 AM
The first photo is of the cleaned up WE Rose Beige numbers matching phone I received at the beginning of the month. The photo doesn't do it justice. It is really pretty and in overall good condition. I have to marvel at the high quality of manufacturing these phones were made. After all these years and a little cleaning of the dial it works great and of course the ringer could wake the dead. There is a crack on one side and it doesn't show as much in person as it does in the photos. My question is, do I leave it alone? Do I glue it and if so with what? If I do then do I try sanding the outside? (I have never done that). Opinions and advice appreciated.

There are so many topics within this board that address cracks. The best and hardest seems to be welding, melting, the plastic back together with an appropriate solvent (acetone for ABS and denatured alcohol for soft plastic).

If you search using one word, crack, and set the search to look only within the Telephone Restoration Projects and Techniques board (if you need help learning how to do that, send me a PM and I will guide you through how to do it) that will help you learn crack repair.

Yes, glues can be used but the crack will always be seen. Solvent welding the crack, and filling in gaps or chips, followed by sanding and polishing can make it look like new. Placing a support backing on the inside of the housing to prevent the crack from reforming is a good idea. I, personally, have used a plastic screen mesh along with water thin super glue and baking soda to create a very strong, thin back support for areas with cracks that were similar to the one in your housing.

In a quick search for "crack" in that board, I found a great topic but unfortunately it was sabotaged by a former member. However, I found the first page of that topic in the "Wayback Machine" and you can see what was removed here (but only the first page of the 2 page topic but mos to the important information about solvent welding and filling a crack can be seen there, at this link:

     https://web.archive.org/web/20160512023922/http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=11993.0

The original topic on the forum can be found here but all of the information has been deleted so use the "archive" link above:

     http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=11993.0

There are 4 or 5 members on the forum who have done this and I hope they reply in response to your question. My only point of posting this reply is to point you in the right direction to find already posted information on the forum, especially to that one archived topic.

==================

EDIT: The Wayback Machine archived copy was printed out and attached below as a PDF file

Scott

Thank you TelePlay for posting those links. I had never seen the post about the Peking Red 320. Very interesting. I had researched the idea of fixing the crack before my original post and to tell everyone the truth I am very intimidated. I have never had a phone of this desirability and value and I really don't want to screw it up. Every other phone I have worked on before I just dove in and didn't think too much about it. I was hoping to hear from others if they have ever been in this situation and what they finally did. I will be keeping this phone for a while and enjoy it then at some point in the future I will be letting it go so I am wondering what may be the most prudent approach to take to maximize my return and for someone else to get the best phone they can get. I appreciate your reply and thank you for the time you send moderating this site. It is a remarkable resource for anyone interested in telephone collecting. I look forward to hearing from everyone's opinion.

Scott K.


19and41

Here is a product i've used on a number of plastic items.  It is a solvent type cement that softens the two mating surfaces to join them.  I'm not sure how it would worh on the type housing discussed here, but here is a listing for it.

https://www.amazon.com/Testors-3507AT-Liquid-Plastic-1-Ounce/dp/B00005CA7S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1548817060&sr=8-3&keywords=testors+model+cement
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

TelePlay

     Regular Member Post

Quote from: 19and41 on January 29, 2019, 10:02:11 PM
Here is a product i've used on a number of plastic items.  It is a solvent type cement that softens the two mating surfaces to join them.  I'm not sure how it would worh on the type housing discussed here, but here is a listing for it.

Yes, same or similar to acetone. The MSDS for that cement states it is about 75% Toluol (Toluene), it's about $7 a quart if you can find a store that sells it. The MSDS does not state what the other 25% is but it's not water or alcohol. Toluene is a benzene ring with one CH3 methyl group attached so maybe mineral spirits.

Testors product description states: "3507AT (blue carded)/281216 (gray carded) - 1 oz. Fast-Drying Liquid Cement with Precision Applicator; Use for polystyrene and ABS plastic; Bonds plastic by dissolving and cementing; Precision applicator makes easy work of gluing even small intricate detailed parts."

So, it could be used to solvent weld ABS together, not glue it as with super glue or other cements, but dissolve the plastic together. Probably could also be used to melt bits to fill chips.

Should work the same as Acetone to weld ABS plastic together but never used it myself so don't know.