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302 Corner Repair

Started by benhutcherson, November 29, 2008, 08:44:26 PM

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benhutcherson

Hello Folks,

For a couple of months now, I've had what I thought was a halfway decent 302. I picked it up locally for about $20, as best as I recall-it didn't look that great, but I can't pass up a 302 for that price.

In any case, it was low on the priority list, and sat for a while. When I finally got to examining, I was very pleasantly surprised at the condition. The F-1 handset is the nicest I've ever seen-it's glossy black all over. From a foot away, you'd think that it was a shiny acrylic reproduction. The porcelain number plate is original to the telephone(the date on it matches everything else), and it shows almost no wear. I would guess that it was probably a little-used extension, as, in my experience, high-wear parts like the number plate and handset are rarely this nice.

The biggest issue with it, though, was that one corner had a big crack from the case shrinking. Since there was no missing plastic, I decided that it would be a good candidate for the corner repair process described here in the past of simply gluing the crack together with a CA adhesive.

I'm proud to report that, while the repair isn't perfect, I was able to get the crack close very well. It's not visible from a few inches away. I've got some Novus polish on the way, which I hope will be able to polish it to where it's even less visible.

While I had the phone apart, I took the time to do some other cosmetic work. I disassembled and cleaned/polished all of the hook switch contacts. I also polished the bells. It's not as perfect as Dennis's phones, but it certainly looks better than it did.

I also, of course, ground out the inside edge of the case to help the shell fit better without cracking back open the repair, and finished it all off by installing an original mounting cord I had lying around.

I can easily say that this is now my nicest 302.

Dennis Markham

Ben,  The phone looks great!  I really love that dial card.  That looks like an old one with less than 7 digits.  Maybe it was some type of office phone??  I don't remember seeing one with a letter that follows numbers.  Nice repair job on the corner.  Sometimes the sandpaper technique will made them disappear and sometimes it won't.  It's nice just the way it is---and as long as you're happy that's all that matters.  Those other phones look nice too!

Dennis

McHeath

Good looking job on the cracked corner repair.  The phone sure is a keeper, that handset looks too good to be true.  I saw a 302 without a dial today, it was attached to an old wooden ringer box and they wanted 150 clams.  It was all pretty poor looking, unlike your 20 dollar find.  That's a nice collection you have there.

benhutcherson

#3
Thanks for the compliments, folks.

Unfortunately, it looks like the repair was a little bit too easy. I just checked it again, and the corner has cracked back open. I guess that I didn't take enough plastic off of the inside-although the shell was snug when I was first putting it back on, I thought that it was okay. I might just end up trying to find a replacement shell. The only 302 shell I have that's not cracked at a corner has a missing cradle ear, so I wouldn't be gaining anything by swapping with another shell I already own. I hate to swap shells, too, since everything else on this telephone matches to '49.

Well, I suppose that I'll glue it back tomorrow afternoon, and let it set for the week while I'm at school.

By the way, thanks also for the compliments on the other telephones. The one to the left is a 40AL, and the shelf below has a pair of 5302s. The left one is a fairly old one with a #5 dial, F-1 handset, and no ringer volume adjustment. The right one has a #6 dial and G-1 handset with the modern receiver elements. One of these days, I'll get a proper number ring for the left one-it came that way when I bought it, and with the numbers on the outer ring painted out.

Dennis,
The number card actually came with my 151AL candlestick, which was originally a non-dial model. My original thought when I bought the phone was that it was a cheap way to get a decent #5 dial for the candlestick, and so I installed the original card that came with the telephone. After I bought another dial for the 151AL, I just left the card in this dial.

If I'm not mistaken, the card came from party line service. The first four digits would have designated the line number within the exchange, and the last digit designated the ringing pattern. I think that there were four different letters that were used. I couldn't begin to tell you where I read this, so don't take it as gospel, but I know I've seen it somewhere or another.

bingster

#4
Quote from: benhutcherson on November 30, 2008, 12:11:32 AMIf I'm not mistaken, the card came from party line service. The first four digits would have designated the line number within the exchange, and the last digit designated the ringing pattern. I think that there were four different letters that were used. I couldn't begin to tell you where I read this, so don't take it as gospel, but I know I've seen it somewhere or another.
Now that you mention it, I remember seeing this dial.  Here's the site where I saw it.  It shows a similar dial card, too:

http://www.phonemandave.net/web1dials.htm

Sorry about the opening crack.  What about maybe gluing it again, and then reinforcing it with a piece of fabric glued over the crack?  If the fabric is soaked with superglue, it should dry rock hard and hold the two sides together forever.
= DARRIN =



Dennis Markham

When I was working with that badly damaged 302 case recently I had some problems with the one corner crack opening back up after it had dried.  The last time it opened up was when I fit the housing back over the base of the phone.  I had not removed enough of the inside corner plastic and it was still putting pressure on the repaired corner.  So I did two things that seemed to help.  First I used the grinding bit on the Dremmel tool and really opened up each corner---carefully fitting it onto the base until I could see a gap at each corner when it was placed on the base.  I did this when the dial was out of the phone and the case was not connected by the fabric straps. 

Secondly, I experimented with a different glue than just using Krazy Glue, Super Glue and the like.  I had a small bottle of Gorilla Glue.  In reading the instructions it says that the glue works on all types of surfaces but mentioned Wood, Stone, Metal Ceramics, Foam, Glass & MORE.  It was the MORE that I hoped would help me since plastics were not specifically mentioned.  They recommend putting water on one edge, of course that is hard to do with a small crack.  So I gave it a shot. 

I soaked a Q-tip (those things come in handy) with water and saturated the inside of the crack.  I then put liberal amounts of glue on both the inside of the crack and on both the inside and outside. It is sticky but I quickly wiped off the excess but intentionally smeared it over the outside of the crack.  Since I don't have large wooden type clamps, I used a very heavy rubber band and doubled it stretching it from right to left over the front of the phone---holding the crack together.  I waited 24 hours before removing the rubber band.  The glue foams up when it mixes with the water and really seals up the crack even if the two edges aren't a perfect mate it seems to bond.

Afterward I chipped off the excess exterior glue with a finger nail and then sanded and polished the repair.  I handled it very carefully but it held through reassembly of the dial and attachment to the base.  The case had a better fit over the base and for the next several days before it left my presence the bond held.

I have since picked up another glue that I'll try on the next repair.