The PHILCO Phorum

Is it possible to flatten this warped dial?  Otherwise, Radio Daze has an excellent reproduction.



 

Thanks,
Henry

I had a similar looking dial on my 81. Just popped it off the shaft, laid it on a flat surface, gently used a head gun and a small piece of wood to flatten it.

How did you pop it off of the shaft without breaking the rivets?

Right. The rivets would be a problem, but I can leave the dial on the shaft and make a U-shaped press. If it'll stand up to the minimum heat to make it plastic--that's what I needed to know. If necessary, the rivets can be replaced with small nuts & bolts. Thanks.

<How did you pop it off of the shaft without breaking the rivets? 
Let me rephrase, I removed the dial and it's bracket from the tuning capacitor shaft by loosening the set screw.

Let me clarify.  I didn't mean to leave it on the shaft, but to leave the dial riveted to the metal.  I was wary of melting or burning the dial, so I heated, pressed, and cooled three times; increasing the heat each time until it softened adequately.


It worked. Thanks for the help.

Wow, great tip. Thanks for posting!

To follow up on flattening the warped dial.  Even when I thought I had successfully flattened the dial, it warped again after 24 hours.  For my final attempt, I totally removed the plastic, heated it almost to melting, then kept it clamped flat overnight.  That worked permanently.

But I bought a repro dial, anyway.  Here's the way I removed the old dial and attached the new one:
Cut off the rivet heads from the back of the dial.  Affix the new dial with golf grip tape (thin, double-sided adhesive).  Stick the rivets back in the holes and hold them in with a dab of epoxy putty from the back side.