Soft Plastic 500 horror story

[phonium]

Once when I was new to collecting at the same recycling center that I got the $10 Kellogg candlestick and $5 magneto I found a WE 500. Asked how much, $5. Bought it. Didn't know at the time but it was soft plastic. 6 hole handset. Open center fingerwheel. $5. I then took it apart and hot glued a CD to the housing. Took apart the dial too. Oh well... at least I have the handset. Tried to take the  cd off, but the housing was to damaged.

[Key2871]

Wet dry sandpaper, of a finer grit would work well getting glue of the housing. Then go finer the better the finish will be.

[phonium]

The problem is that the hole that the dial goes in is too beat up. I had used a razor to try to cut the glue off (shortly after the glue-ing) which ruined it forever

[Key2871]

Oh, yea well unless you have a lathe and are good with it, your out of luck.
I used to work in a machine shop, and used a lathe to modify some things and to turn others like old receivers to refinish them. Keep looking for a finger wheel for a replacement.

[Dan/Panther]

That shell can be repaired back to as new with very little work or cost.
You will need to remove donor plastic from the inside of the shell, ribs etc.
Make sure all foreign color is removed from the area, like old paint etc.
Place the shell at an angle where as the area you want to fix is relatively level, use painter tape to make a dam to keep the acetone from running into the dial opening. . You will need acetone. Using a tooth pick or other small object drip a drop or two of acetone onto the area where the damage is. the plastic will become soft. At that point add tiny pieces of the shell on top of the damaged area. add another droop of acetone. the plastic will soften to the point you can literally spread it around. Careful move the softened plastic to fill the damaged area, Over fill it slightly, add a bit more acetone to soften the plastic. once it sets up you can sand it down using progressively finer grit paper. Once smooth you can polish the plastic with Norvus 2 or other scratch removal polish. If you have done the acetone prep correctly the color will be identical and undetectable.
This method will work on many types of plastics, and is especially good at fixing scratches or dings.

D/P

[HarrySmith]

Good advice! Plus you can't make it worse