Need help replacing the felt on candle bottom

[RB]

I purchased new felt for the bottom of my SC candle.
Need help reinstalling it.
never done this before.
Who is good at it?

[FABphones]

No photos so I can't see if yours has the circlip, but here is info re a PTT24 baseplate which I recovered, in principal should be the same. Hope this helps:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=21026

[Babybearjs]

isin't there a tutorial on this on Youtube?

[Jim Stettler]

isin't there a tutorial on this on Youtube?

That is great that someone created a video.
Please post the link for the forum.
Thanks,
Jim

[Babybearjs]

no, Jim..... I asked HAS anyone made a tutorial video on this subject?

[Key2871]

Rod, it's not an easy task more hit and miss.
What I did for mine and the couple 202s I did was turn the base over line up the cover then holding it tight I lowered the ring to hold the felt over and around the edges and then carefully installed the ring and brought the bottom upright..
As I said it's not easy, but that's worked best for me.

[TelePlay]

There once were very helpful forum posts about recovering bases but the member put the "How to's" in an external Picassa linked site which, while they were very useful showing how it is professionally done, are now dead.

This is the only site I found that shows in some detail how to do it.

http://antiquetelephonehistory.com/blog.php

It's basically cutting the material larger than the plate, installing the circlip and then using a pliers to grip the extra material inside the circlip to put the cover tight, tapping down the circlip each time the pliers is used to tighten the leather because the circlip will pop up a bit. A little bit at a time works best otherwise the circlip will pop off and you will have to start over.

One the material is stretched flat and tight, the circlip can be pounded down tight and the excess inner material cut away.

The last step is cutting the holes which can be done with a hot brass wire, if the material is felt, or a end sharpened (from the inside of the tube to create a sharp cutting edge) brass tube in a drill. Put the base cover side down on a piece of wood to make a clean hole through the material. A brass tube that will just fit through the mounting holes is the correct size to use in either hole making process.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=20439.msg209027#msg209027

Some time ago, someone was selling covers that were threaded along the edges so that the base material could be layed on the plate with the excess pulled tight by the thread on the inside. This allows the circlip to be easily installed (no need to fumble with the getting all of the edges under the circlip) and once the circlip in installed, the threaded cover pulls the cover quite tight making the initial installation of the circlip almost the final step. Any additional stretching can be done as stated above and then the excess cut off. This cover and process is found here

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=17521.0

[scottfannin]

I may be oversimplifying when I do it but I've read through this and for felt anyway it's been easy for me.  Works for 202, candlestick, anything with a clip in a circle around it.  Might be harder with leather since that's thicker, but I haven't worked with that.  Steps:

1) Strip off all the old stuff.  Scrape it up and use "Airplane Remover" if some fool glued it on at some point.
2) Sand off any major corrosion.
3) Use "naval jelly" (phosphoric acid gel) to remove active rust.
4) Sand off anything obviously out of place, sticking up, looking like bird poo, etc.
5) Get square of thick yet totally flexible felt.  I like brown, green, red, or black but it's up to you.
6) Cut the corners off so it's roughly an octagon, doesn't have to be perfect.  That will keep edges out of your way.
7) Pull it over the base and around it, tightly, then pull in any bunched areas further so it is nearly flat all around.
Put the ring back.  I know people have said it's hard, maybe I have strong hands?  Hold one side with a screwdriver and gradually work the other one against it with pliers.  Do not settle for the ends of it not being directly against each other--it doesn't work that way, not with them overlapping.
9) Put a paper towel under the felt so you don't pound dirt into it.  Put it on a board, workbench, etc.
10) Tap the ring with a small or rubber hammer so that it is evenly inserted all the way around.
11) Cut around the ring on the inside with an ordinary razor knife of your choice. Yes, it scratches the base but who is ever going to know?
12) Screw holes, forgive me but maybe my method is too simple.  From the bottom, gently press an awl until it goes through the hole.  When you put it back together, just use the little hole you made and the screw will magically push it to the right size.

That's all I do and it looks nice.