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WE 653 B-A Hook Switch Leaf Repair Project

Started by shortrackskater, September 26, 2020, 08:56:07 PM

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shortrackskater

(this topic was created by splitting off these replies from the phone wiring topic http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=24333.msg242210#msg242210 at the request of shortrackskater and started as this new topic about leaf repair)


The entire lower contact is broken off.
Unless someone has a replacement wafer, I believe I can make one work, with a little tweaking, from a newer WE phone I have.
Comments?
Mark J.

shortrackskater

Just replying to myself here to keep the thread moving along!
So I grafted in a lower contact, which actually worked great.  :)

However, twice I had to open it back up to adjust that main support leaf spring. Unfortunately the second time, it just snapped! I tried very carefully but I think, after 83 years or so, it just gave up.
Talked to John a little and now I'll try some metal fabrication and see what I can produce!
Mark J.

FABphones

Quote from: shortrackskater on September 29, 2020, 07:08:05 PM
...I'll try some metal fabrication and see what I can produce!

With some careful work you should be able to make a good replacement. Remember to take close up photos before you disassemble (and as you progress if needed), I find photos an invaluable reference when taking anything apart.
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

shortrackskater

My switch/leaf stack works great after multiple times. Time will tell if it lasts but I think it will.
Here's my (crude) step by step process of fabricating a new leaf for the switch.
First, I'm NO expert in metal fabrication whatsoever. I just look and stuff and try to figure things out using trial and error with a speck of intelligence and common sense.
BEFORE you start, take PHOTOS of your "stack." Also, what worked for me was finding nuts for the screws. That way you can remove one side and pivot the stack out, then put the nut on top so the whole darn thing doesn't come apart. I took them off and layed them out in order, away from my work area.
For the metal, I just poked around my garage and found that hack saw blades seemed to have that strength and were the correct thickness. I crudely cut one to size just to see how much bend I could put in the end, the "hook up" curl. I got close to the proper bend but then it just gave out and broke. I though of heating it and then bending but I have no welding equipment or torch other that a very small one, so I just thought of a different route by using a aluminum spacer, glued on the end.
The first photo show the original blade that broke, but used it to show how I started. All the rest are the hacksaw blade. Basically I simply cut it out with tin snips, then filed away using the two broken piece of the original leaf. I filed it to size and, using a rat tail file, created the end tab to solder on the wires. I used a marker to reveal the excess and just kept filing away until it matched the original. I marked the holed, center punched and drilled.
Mark J.

shortrackskater

#4
Next, after more fine-tune filing, I got my aluminum spacer and lined it up next to the original leaf. I gave it one little squeeze to raise it a few millimeters, filed a flat area on the bottom, then glued it on the end using JB weld. (I used super glue first just to line stuff temporarily) The next day I inserted it back in the stack, and soldered the wires on to the new leaf. I then roughed up a spot on the other end of leaf, cleaned the area, and added a blob of solder to act as the new contact point. I gave the blob some pressure with a screwdriver to insure the hold!
After re-assembly on to the mount, the next daunting task was trial and error of bending contact leafs and the support leaf. I'm sure the regular members here will notice a different lower contact. It came from a 302 but made a great replacement after a little hole filing. I had to replace that because the top "press down" spacer was long gone.
Finally after probably 5 times of taking the stack apart, I got the proper bend in all the leafs. The tricky part of this task, is that you just don't have the spacing to "bend in place" without screwing up another leaf bend in the process.
I had a few issues with proper contact alignment. I used a very thin file for that, and just kept checking continuity with my multi meter.
So after ALL that, the dang phone works, hangs up properly and the hack saw leaf has enough support to hold up the hookset.
Mark J.

shortrackskater

#5
And, just for fun - before and after shots.  First is the inside and outside of the phone when I bought it three years ago. I think it must have sat outside or in a moist area. This is the phone that had the frozen-on receiver cap.
After is my finished project. I'm leaving it basically in a state of arrested decay, same paint, same original number on the dial. I rewired new lines for the receiver and line plug and cleaned it inside, and polished the outside.
Mark J.

countryman

That turned out very nice. It was a good decision just to repair it to working order and not to over-restore the phone.
Cool idea to use the sawblade!

Scott

Outstanding accomplishment! Nicely done.

Scott K.

HowardPgh

That hookswitch assembly looks similar to the one in the "County Line" wooden phone. Maybe you culd salvage parts from one of those to rebuild you switch.
Howard

HarrySmith

Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Key2871

Reminds me of some eairly stuff I've done to fix things.
Good work, MacGyver.
KEN

RB

Very nice!
I have a similar phone.
Found another with similar hook, and swapped blades to make it correct.
Just for future reference, Chk out the Pinball community.
most of those blades are the same!

dsk