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Modifications to 302 Bases to Prevent Thermoplastic Shells from Cracking

Started by Doug Rose, January 28, 2012, 04:42:52 PM

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sesjrs

Doug,
What a great innovative solution which keeps it authentic and looks great??
Nice Job.
Steve

Doug Rose

Quote from: sesjrs on February 06, 2012, 12:03:42 PM
Doug,
What a great innovative solution which keeps it authentic and looks great??
Nice Job.
Steve
thanks Steve....I appreciate all your help. I am quite please with the results. Cloth cords will make it a winner....Doug
Kidphone

Doug Rose

Quote from: Doug Rose on February 05, 2012, 12:56:28 PM
Steve....I did consider the #6 dial, but this 41 5H dial was dated correctly. The was really no way I was going to get in in without damage and I certainly dd not want to damage this. SSSSSooooooo I went with a dial blank. Slid right in with no issues. I had had this for awhile and it took me forever to find it with my great filing/storage system!!

It is a complete, WORKING manual phone! All dates are matching so I really can't be too upset with the way this turned out. I would have rather had the dial, but I am also very partial to manual sets as well.

Steve, Paul and Chuck....thank you all for your input. I am pleasantly surprised I didn't crack the shell. Patience is not my middle name. But this now slides on and off with ease.

At the moment I have no WE cloth cords to install on it, so I'll wait until I find some.

Doug
If anyone is interested, it is for sale on eBay or feel free to make me an offer....Doug

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290673669302
Kidphone

AE_Collector

I hope you don't mind Doug but I've changed the title of this thread from Thermoplastic WE 302 July 1941!!! to Modifications of 302 Bases to Prevent Thermoplastic Shells from Cracking since that is where the discussion went.

I thought it became a very good discussion of this topic complete with lots of pictures so I changed the title to make it easier to find and I made it a "sticky" to keep it at the top of the Collector's Corner board. Hopefully if there is more discussion on this topic it can be added here so it becomes an invaluable reference to help people decide what to do to preserve their coloured Thermoplastic 302's.

Terry

Russ Kirk

Thanks for changing the thread name,  made it easier to find it.

I just picked up one of my dream phones at the Southern California phone show.  I got a Peking Red 302.  No cracks in the base.  Only very minor cracks in the transmitter cap.  Dates matching 10-53 on the base, 8/9-53 on the handset.  The seller told me the case was a little snug,  yup, too snug for me sleep well at night at the price I spent.  The existing base it trimmed a bit. 

From the consensus here I see that trimming the base does not deter the value of the set. I was going to dremell the base corners down a bit more or notch them so the cover slips on and off easily.  I'll post before and after photos later. 
- Russ Kirk
ATCA & TCI

Doug Rose

Russ....absolutely beautiful. I don't think there is a better color than a the WE Pekin Red. Your phone is stunning!....Doug
Kidphone

bingster

Beautiful phone, Russ!  Odd card, though.  Tidewater was a Virginia independent that used North equipment.  It's interesting that it wound up on a Western set.
= DARRIN =



Russ Kirk

Here are the before and after photos.

The cover was very firm and rubbed the base. 1st and 2nd photo = before.

I used the dremmel with a rotary cutter to cut a thin slot in the corner.  4th photo
Then used the needle nose pliers to bend the two parts together.  3rd photo
Then lightly sanded with the dremmel sander.

Now it fits just like when it was new in 1953.
It's ready for another 59 years!

- Russ Kirk
ATCA & TCI

bingster

I really like that solution, Russ.  Some methods of relieving the corner involve practically removing the corner, but this is very mild by comparison.  Great idea.
= DARRIN =



Dan/Panther

I've never relieved the base before, I usually very carefully remove material from the inside of the housing. Does it really matter, if you take it from the base, or the housing, they are a matched set, and either way it takes from the originality, but a slight trimming of the inside of the case, seems so less obvious, and least evasive.

D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Phonesrfun

I've removed material from the case before too.  However, I think I am totally in favor of the method of cutting material out of the metal base for two reasons.  First is that when the material is sanded or ground out of the plastic shell. the remaining material is thinner and probably less able to take any amount of strain on it.

Second, the metal bases are generally in abundant supply, whereas the shells are not!  I kind of like the modification to the base better than grinding on the shell.

-Bill G

Dan/Panther

Bill;
On the inside corners of the 302 cases are bumps at each side. I use a dremmal and smooth these pumps out. It's a raised spot, and all I do is make it flat with the rest of the case so it's just as thick as the original case, I'm just removing excess material.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

Bill

Dan -

I'm not sure that WE's manufacturing engineers would be so crude or so careless as to leave excess material with no purpose. It took some fiddling with the mold to put those raised areas there. I have no specific knowledge, but I bet that the extra material is put there specifically to strengthen the corner. After, it was relatively common for the customer to drop a phone, and in the day when Ma Bell owned all the phones, and replacements were free to the customer, a broken case would be an expensive thing for the company. A daub of extra material at the corners may have paid for itself many times over.

These days, as collectors, we are much less likely to drop our phones, of course. But I have still gone with the mod to the base, rather than the case.

Just my thoughts ....

Bill (another one)

Dan/Panther

Quote from: Bill on March 13, 2012, 01:39:34 PM
Dan -

I'm not sure that WE's manufacturing engineers would be so crude or so careless as to leave excess material with no purpose. It took some fiddling with the mold to put those raised areas there. I have no specific knowledge, but I bet that the extra material is put there specifically to strengthen the corner. After, it was relatively common for the customer to drop a phone, and in the day when Ma Bell owned all the phones, and replacements were free to the customer, a broken case would be an expensive thing for the company. A daub of extra material at the corners may have paid for itself many times over.

These days, as collectors, we are much less likely to drop our phones, of course. But I have still gone with the mod to the base, rather than the case.

Just my thoughts ....

Bill (another one)

My thoughts about that, if you pay $500.00 for a phone and then drop it, you deserve to have it cracked. Modifying the base permanently ruins it. Modifying the case, if done properly, most will never notice it.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

deedubya3800

This thread is perfect for me! The 100% dates-matching 1951 ivory I just got in is real tight on its base, and that's just what it needs to continue looking (fairly) good. Thanx! :)