ABC Pocket Edition cases, anyone had them apart?

[T Rick]

I got a 1911 ABC Pocket Edition in a couple of days ago (sort of over shadowed by the arrival of the 1905 (?) Single Ring).

It's a nice set, but the latch doesn't spring or always stay latched properly. The inside was a bit dirty, so I removed it to clean it up a bit, and have a look.

The latch piece is loose, but appears it may have once been adhered with some type of adhesive (epoxy?). Is this actually the spring also, or is there one (which may be missing)?

I'll shoot some pics of this one a bit later, just wanted to see if there was any help on the latch for now.

 

[ozzy_scl]

Hello Mate, It would be useful if you post a picture.

You mean the latch that keeps the box closed??

I have 2 with a Latch (an empire and a basket wave model) and in both, the latch seems to be held (probably welded) by the pins.
Remember that back in 1911 there was no epoxy.

Anyway, I might have just missunderstood what you wanted to say, but I'm pretty sure they were welded together.

 

[newmikemac]

I'll be interested to see your photos. I too have an ABC pocket edition case that doesn't close properly and I haven't yet figured out what to do to make it work better. It's otherwise in really good condition, so I don't want to mess it up by trying to fix it.

 

[T Rick]

Sorry guys, I guess I should have posted pics straight away (also should have realized epoxy was not in existence then, though I imagine some type of adhesive was).

This probably was welded (and it's a basket weave pattern case). I hadn't really inspected with my glasses. Having done so now, I do see it appears to have been a weld. Can't weld it again without refinish, so I will try to solder it and see how that works.

The razor (a bit more brassing than I expected, but it was inexpensive). It's sitting on a fairly ratty President case I picked up to house my beautiful '53 President (hopfully temporarily).

And a little something else totally unrelated, that showed up today, a 1909 Single Ring in Travel case.

 

[mdunn]

im not sure if it helps, but this is the only internal pic of an ABC case I used to own.

I dont remember seeing any springs or anything

 

[T Rick]

Thanks, it appears the "spring" is the lever attached to the button. Mine has a broken weld. Going to hunt down my soldering iron tomorrow and see if I can solder it strongly enough.

 

[mdunn]

you could also rough the area up with some sandpaper and epoxy it

 

[whistleman123]

Hi! Looks like the latches on some musical instrument cases that I work on. I would suggest silver soldering it and quenching it with cold water to reharden the strap. A quick buff with yellow or green rough on a loose flanell wheel will bring the shine back to the outside of the case. Dan

 

[napoleon]

Here some of my pics:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=92858&highlight=pocket


The little thing that you push is held by a bar, not a lever. Yours is broken in half.

 

[82R100]

Here some of my pics:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=92858&highlight=pocket


The little thing that you push is held by a bar, not a lever. Yours is broken in half.

...and it's secured to the case with pin rivets at each end.

 

[ozzy_scl]

Now I know what you mean, I had the same problem with a Military set I bought 2 weeks ago, I was lucky and one of my friends was able to welded back together. After cleaning the case, he used a special mix (he's a jewler) I will ask him next time I see him, what kind of mix he used.

 

[SavantStrike]

you could also rough the area up with some sandpaper and epoxy it

This sounds like a good call. I'm not sure that solder will really be strong enough to hold up to any kind of repeated button pressing (although perhaps it won't get pressed that often).

...and it's secured to the case with pin rivets at each end.

The biggest problem I see is it looks like part of the bar is missing. I think those rivets could be replaced.

If I were fixing this, I would find a short piece of springy steel (the clip on a ball point pen might actually be perfect, I've seen some Uni Balls that have fairly thick clips). I would then attach the springy steel to the back of the partial button mechanism with epoxy. The end result would be a piece of steel with the button on it as long as the original part was. It might take a lot of tweaking to find the right little piece to repair this, but eventually you'd have a "complete" button with the bar behind it.

Then I would see about either pinning the repair piece to the case via brass pins (a la straights), or if you have access to rivets that small, that would be even better. Another option would be to epoxy the bar in place.

That jeweler's weld sounds even better.


EDIT:
It's a shameless plug, but I'm going to plug it any ways. I just so happen to be PIFing a razor just like this one complete in case. Only it's an empire edition (rarest of the rare), and it's still got some of it's gold plating intact (even rarer). Anyone who hasn't learned of said PIF may want to check the link in my sig...

 

[T Rick]

Thanks all for the above wisdom and replies!

I too see where it is missing half, and unfortunately that piece is nowhere with me (likely lost long, long ago). The assumption that the set will not be opened a lot is correct. While I have it (it'll probably go in my estate sale, whenever that happens). Until then, I don't see it being opened more than a dozen times a year at most, so it's no big deal.

That combined with the overall condition of the set make me want to keep the effort in this fix minimal, but I still intent to do something. I may just affix the portion I have to the case and see if it will function that way. Failing that, it shouldn't be a big deal to get a small scrap of spring steel (lots of spring shops around, the trick will be reducing the size of whatever scrap I get).

As it happens, beginning next week, I'll have access to a MIG welder, might be able to utilize that to join the pieces (still thinking silver solder or the like to affix it to the case, as welding would almost surely destroy the finish). But we'll see. First, to try rto find a scrap and/or decide whether to go with the half piece (the "weld" I was seeing may have indeed been epoxy (?) from a previous attempt to make this half work).

BTW, there are no rivets protruding through the case in this area on mine, though I do see them on others. Were these flush welded on the inside?

 

[Oldguy]

If it were mine I wouldn't fix it. I display all my ABC pockets closed with the razor sitting on top. I probably won't open them more then once a year to see how the innards are holding up. Since you don't plan on selling it in this lifetime, let somebody else worry about it.

Len

 

[Blue-EyedSon]

It sounds like you've managed to figure it out okay, but just in case you are in need of some photos I just got a pocket edition in the mail and the internals of the case aren't in very good shape. I was able to get the metal liners out with no problem and photograph the innards. Hopefully this helps if you've not already been able to see what you need.

 

[T Rick]

Thanks!