ecko u122 cabinet

[tiv48]

just been given this but cabinet is full of cracks. any ideas would be welcom.my first thought was to dremmel trougths where the cracks are .fill with fine filler,rub down and respay a lot of work for a not very rare radio, must be a better way. ps ithink this poor thing smoked 100 fags a day
rob t

[OldTickTock]

Hi Rob,

You don't say if the cracks are all the way through, on the inside as well.

If you want to make it look shiny and new or perhaps different, try a cherry red glossy finish for example and do as you say with a nice new paint job.

If however you want to preserve the original looks, then what I have done is use Araldite on the crack on the inside then cover with metal tape from Halfords to protect from further heat. I then use Milliput which is perfect for Bakelite repairs. Fill the external crack once dried and gently sanded back match with acrylics. Worked a treat on a DAC90A that had a cracked cabinet and a chip, you would never know.

HTH

Chris

[tiv48]

that is an excelent job dont know if i have that level of skill .at the moment i have not had time to remove the insides but iwuld think at least some crakes go all the wat through
cheers rob t

[Aerodyne]

These cabinets almost always show a stress crack on the underside of the 'handle'. The other crack(s) may be stress-related, or simply the result of clumsiness. I'd definitely second the use of Milliput. It is great for cabinets. I use only the superfine white type. The set is worth doing, IMHO.
Reinforce inside with fine alloy mesh and resin, from car accessory shops (used for small body repairs/rust holes). Roughen the inside surface to help the resin to adhere. Then on the outside, apply the Milliput. You could widen the cracks a little if essential. It hardens slowly, allowing a considerable degree of sculpting with knife blade or similar. Eventually sets hard and makes, after spraying, an undetectable repair. It can be made to span voids and hardens at any thickness.
-Tony

[tiv48]

hi i have never heard of Milliput where would i get some ? you make it sound so simpel bet its not, but i will give it a try
rob t

[OldTickTock]

Hi Rob I got mine from ebay, comes in all sorts of colours.

Chris

[tiv48]

just ordered some cheers
rob t

[Aerodyne]

A couple of pictures to show Milliput in use:

[attachment=527][attachment=526]

-Tony

[tiv48]

thanks for every ones help ,i dont understand how i can get milliput into hairline crackes or even remove the dirt wich makes them stand out, because the cracks are not on an edge i cant pull apart bits to make them wider. as you can tell i have spent all my time on repairs not restoration so im a compleat novice at plastic cabinet repaires
rob t

[OldTickTock]

Good point I thought the cracks were more open, that does present a problem, although some do look from the photos as though they could be filled. I've not had a cream set before so dirt in hairlines have not been an issue as all the ones I've done so far have been brown and easily touched up with acrylics.

As Bakelite is made from either phenol formaldahide (brown) or urea formaldahide (off white) I'm not up on what cleaner you could use on the Urea cabinet to try and clean the hairline with. I would use a toothbrush and some gentle agitation underneath or inside to see if there's a reaction with various cleaners to see, then try a crack. It might just be work ensuring the cracks do not spread and leaving it as part of the provenance of the set.

See what others think.

Chris