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soft plastic

Started by Eman, April 15, 2011, 10:13:15 PM

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Eman

How soft is soft plastic supposed to be? I have a 1964 Kellogg ITT 554 that has an incredibly soft shell, it feels almost like its rubber. It seems to be entirely different from the 5302's shell.

Phonesrfun

Interesting.  I am kind of wondering if in 1964 those phones were being made by Kellogg.
-Bill G

LarryInMichigan

Eman,

Is it black?  I have black tenite WE shells from the 1960s.

Larry

Eman

Yes, its black. The plastic is incredibly flexible and somewhat deformed around the dial opening (its out of round). Thinking a 95B pushed in place, followed by some low heating of the oven will improve it. Any ideas?

obligatory picture: http://stuff.r-type.ca/phones/HPIM1652.JPG

Jester

Using the dial blank as a form is a great idea.  I think using the oven is too risky, though.  I would try heating just the warped area with a hair dryer or heat gun with variable heat setting (VERY LOW for this application) and apply pressure in the opposite direction to the warpage.  Heating is very tricky with these early plastics, and can cause the warp to worsen, or the plastic will shrink away from the dial opening if not done just right.  I have not heard of or seen it, but it also seems possible to cause a crack with heating-- just take it slowly.
Stephen

Jim Stettler

I have a teribly misshappen Leich convertab;t shell. THe prvious owner straighten it some by using boiling water.

I have soaked it in very hot tap water and I have made some progress.

The advantage with hot water is that the whole case gets heated to the same temp. quickly.
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Jester

Jim,
Thank you for mentioning the hot water.  It crossed my mind to mention it when discussing the heated air method, but I decided it was too much information for a single post.  Another advantage with using water for heating is its natural cooling properties.  Using just the tap water to heat the cover should not pose any of the risks found in the heated air method.
Stephen

Eman

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I gave the hot water method a try. I have an instant water heater so I tried going from 120f to 160f in 10f increments. Unfortunately I don't believe it had any effect.

Next I gave the oven a try as I have no hairdryer (no women in the house).

started at 175, no results
200 made the shell nice and malleable, was able to get it into the shape it needs to be, but when cooled back down, the shell popped back into its distorted shape.

Don't really want to go much higher in temp, concerned it'll just turn into a disaster.

Anyone have a K-ITT 554 shell that needs a home?