Here's a Copal 802 I picked up on ebay several months ago for a pretty good price. It was branded stromberg which was a business time device company, time punch clocks, master clocks, that sort of thing. It clearly had a lose tile, so I figured I'd take a chance on it. When I got it though, the tile I thought had broken was just warped. Some sort of focused sunlight had heated the tiles up and had actually warped over a dozen hour and minute flaps to varying degrees...
The screws heads to remove the front face and bezel were fairly corroded. I used some compressed air then a bit of Wd40 to help clear them enough to unscrew. Although I had to be careful how much I used as it liked to drip down into the back of the bezel.
Other than the warped tiles, the clock seems in pretty good shape, some light scratching on the face, but nothing that noticeable. The green neon glows, but isn't super bright.
What I've been doing for the tiles is heating them up in a toaster oven, my oven is set to 210ish degrees (99c) On a keep warm mode. At some point I lost the rack, so i used the crumb tray, placing it in the middle. The tiles go on glass sitting on a small metal tray.
My main concern was causing some sort of transfer of the numbering. I had previously tried a dehydrator, at around 140(60) surface temp, but had no luck after 20 minutes (no glass on top) with no change to the tile shape.
After preheating the oven, the tile is placed onto a small piece of picture frame glass, another similar piece is placed on top to help guide it flat as it softens.
From readings on the surface of the tile, (with digital infrared thermometer), at around 175(80c) - 185(85c) the tiles relax and begin to lay flat after 2:30-3:30 minutes.
When that happens I pull the tray it's sitting on and start it cooling off, I have another set of glass I slide them over to, so I can start heating the next one. It seems to help to keep a piece of glass on top during cooling so they aren't temped to bow a bit.
I plan to flatten tiles as time permits, there are too many to do in one sitting and I like just doing a few and placing them back in the clock. I could try doing multiple at one time with a larger piece of glass.
I also was able to pull off the stromberg logo, heat it up and ran a piece plastic in between the glued labels, underneath was the copal label, which I preferred so placed that one back.
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I will share a finished pic when it's all done, hopefully the warped tiles is the main issue...
The screws heads to remove the front face and bezel were fairly corroded. I used some compressed air then a bit of Wd40 to help clear them enough to unscrew. Although I had to be careful how much I used as it liked to drip down into the back of the bezel.
Other than the warped tiles, the clock seems in pretty good shape, some light scratching on the face, but nothing that noticeable. The green neon glows, but isn't super bright.
What I've been doing for the tiles is heating them up in a toaster oven, my oven is set to 210ish degrees (99c) On a keep warm mode. At some point I lost the rack, so i used the crumb tray, placing it in the middle. The tiles go on glass sitting on a small metal tray.
My main concern was causing some sort of transfer of the numbering. I had previously tried a dehydrator, at around 140(60) surface temp, but had no luck after 20 minutes (no glass on top) with no change to the tile shape.
After preheating the oven, the tile is placed onto a small piece of picture frame glass, another similar piece is placed on top to help guide it flat as it softens.
From readings on the surface of the tile, (with digital infrared thermometer), at around 175(80c) - 185(85c) the tiles relax and begin to lay flat after 2:30-3:30 minutes.
When that happens I pull the tray it's sitting on and start it cooling off, I have another set of glass I slide them over to, so I can start heating the next one. It seems to help to keep a piece of glass on top during cooling so they aren't temped to bow a bit.
I plan to flatten tiles as time permits, there are too many to do in one sitting and I like just doing a few and placing them back in the clock. I could try doing multiple at one time with a larger piece of glass.
I also was able to pull off the stromberg logo, heat it up and ran a piece plastic in between the glued labels, underneath was the copal label, which I preferred so placed that one back.
I will share a finished pic when it's all done, hopefully the warped tiles is the main issue...
Just a small follow up, after dozens of flaps being removed and flattened, I finished that part of the project. Happily no flaps broke in the extensive in and out and there was no transfer of the numbering onto the glass.
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