I have a ST Adamantine clock in the shop for rebuilding and there is a small area on the front of lifted veneer. It is intact, has a crack in it and an area about .5" X 1" is lifting up. I would like to repair it for the customer but wnat to make sure I don't make a bigger mess by using a glue that will attack the celluloid maybe making it foggy.

Anybody had any luck fixing this problem before? What did you use and how good was the result?

Thanx, Bruce Weeks
bandc3241@ia4u.net

Welcome Bruce,

I have not tried to repair adamantine, but I will ask around and see what I can find out. Perhaps someone in IHC will come up with the answer first.

Thanx, Tom. I hope someone has some info soon, the customer wants his clock back by May 1. I appreciate your help!

Bruce

Bruce,
I searched the web with Google and found the following link with info on repairing Adamantine cases:
Mike's Clock Clinics

Scroll to link number seven "The Repair of the Adamantine Case Finish" by Ben E. Fulbright.
It can not be open directly because it is a special file format; instead right click the link with your mouse and select SAVE FILE AS and save it to your PC. After that open it from WordPad.
Although the notes do not address your specific problem, I can see that the author is very familiar with these cases and looks very eager to help others. His mail is: ben_fulbright@juno.com

Hope it can be of your help.
Regards

Thanx, Carlos! I have sent an e-mail to Mr. Fulbright asking for his opinion.

Bruce

You may find out better info at the site Carlos gave you, but a friend who has worked on these reccommends 2 part epoxy for loose adamantine. Be careful with the clamping. Use a board or some other protective piece when clamping to prevent cracking.

Mr. Fulbright had much the same advice. Unfortunately the loose piece is on an edge right on the top of the front of the case. And its a glued case, not screwed together. I think slow setting epoxy with a formed clamping board will probably work pretty good. I will use a weight to clamp the veneer and the formed board to stabilize the piece keeping it flat. Fortuately the edge is a flat one and not formed like the top.

Thanks everyone for your help!

Bruce

You could try Hide glue. It works extremely well in these situations and is reversible later if needed.

Ultimately, I used sloooow set Epoxy, which worked great. I then polished the case with McQuire's #7 and waxed with carnuba wax. Really great shine! Customer was quite happy. Unfortunately, he overwound it to the point that sonething broke in the spring retention. I get it back today to repair, again.

Thanx to everyone for your help.

J.Bruce welcome to 185, there are many great clock people here.I am sure the clock looks really nice , actually if you had a photo it would be nice also.
Too bad about what the customer did.