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New dust cover template for 4 series and 5 series dials

Started by Bartonpipes, January 09, 2015, 05:16:01 PM

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TelePlay

#15
I had the equipment and materials to fabric a reproduction dust cover. Only cost was $3.75 for a yard of dark green muslin fabric, a bit of varnish and a couple of hours in the convection oven.

First image is the dust cover cut out with cuts for the number ring retainer, the dial stop post and the finger stop.

Second image is this repro dust cover on the dial, first alone and then after the number ring retainer was put into place.




FABphones

Quote from: TelePlay on February 12, 2023, 04:16:19 PMI had the equipment and materials to fabric a reproduction dust cover...

As usual, excellent work.
Well thought out and very well made. Very nice indeed.
:)
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

TelePlay

Thanks!

I started with a dark green fabric with turned darker with treatment.

Will get a yard of light brown and see if that is closer in color to the original WE dust cover muslin color.

poplar1 posted in another topic about these dial

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=13084.msg262405#msg262405

and in the document he attached it mentioned a "vincellatate" Muslim dust cover.

"vincellatate" is probably a Bell Labs trademark for a cellulose acetate (plastic) compound and process they used to "wet" muslin with it to make muslin dust covers durable and stiff. Bell Labs did a lot of development work on many things and were very good at formulating plastics for many uses across their entire parts and product lines.

Don't know where the "vin" came from, maybe the engineer who invented the compound, but "cell" is for cellulose and "atate" is for the base chemical group, acetate.





MMikeJBenN27

I always thought the paper ones were newer.  Learn something new every day!

Mike

Contempra

Finally, what kind of paper or fabric do we need for reproduction ?

TelePlay

Quote from: Contempra on February 13, 2023, 08:38:44 AMFinally, what kind of paper or fabric do we need for reproduction ?

WE used muslin, a 100% cotton material. Linen and cotton fabrics are very similar, 100% cotton but with a different thread size and weave.

For these, I have been using 100% cotton (not linen or muslin) in that it is not that easy to find linen or muslin in the colors I want.

The above images started with a dark green color which darkened in the process. Today, I bought a yard of light brown 100% cotton which will darken in the process to something closer to the muslin dust cover I found in a 5H dial.

Polyester (20% cotton and 80% oil based threading) will not work. It may dissolve in the solvents used and it would not withstand the heat applied (melt) during drying and then the final bench processing steps.

I will post images of the brown starting material once they come out of the oven, are cut and processed.

Paper is not a good starting material, rips and tears too easily even after processing.

TelePlay

Quote from: poplar1 on February 12, 2023, 12:16:19 PMFrom BSP Section C34.103 i1, August, 1954 (TCI Library)

I always wondered what that piece of metal, the "Buffer Spring," was in front of the dial stop ear.



They thought of everything including a "soft landing" as the dial came to a stop.

TelePlay

#24
The light brown cloth repro dust cover is lower right.

The green cloth repro is lower left.

A older WE brown paper dust cover is upper left.

The newer WE muslin dust cover made using "vincellatate" is upper right.

Since the dust cover can not be seen under the number plate, exact color doesn't really matter.

Might get the color closer to WE muslin with the next yard I buy.


Contempra

#25
Quote from: TelePlay on February 13, 2023, 03:54:11 PMWE used muslin, a 100% cotton material. Linen and cotton fabrics are very similar, 100% cotton but with a different thread size and weave...


Thank you very much Teleplay .

FABphones

Thanks for detailing these and the side by side photos.

Anyone restoring a dial would do well to buy a few of these in if any were for sale.

 :)
A collector of  'Monochrome Phones with Sepia Tones'   ...and a Duck!
***********
Vintage Phones - 10% man made, 90% Tribble
*************

TelePlay

#27
Light grey cotton cloth after processing comes closest to the WE "vincellatate" (muslin treated with cellulose acetate - left image below) dust cover in color. this image shows the dust cover after cutting, in place and in place with the number ring holder in place.

This is the final color and process, no more updates or development work to be done on these repro dust covers.