Help! how to remove back of Bakelite headphones?

[12jslater]

I purchased some Bakelite headphones today and I can get the back off I have used penetrating oil then heat. They won't budge

Please help

[TonyDuell]

I don't know how you are gripping the 2 parts, but I have used a couple of 'baby boa' strap wrenches on similar things in the past.

[M0FYA Andy]

The Bakelite could be swollen due to moisture absorption, a known behaviour of this material.
It is reversible, so keep them nice and warm for a few days and then try again - I would assume the two parts are screwed together.

Andy

[The Philpott]

Is that a threaded fitting?

I would personally say leave it and try again tomorrow as penetrating oil may take time. It's probably never been apart since manufacture.

[TonyDuell]

It sounds crazy, but I've had a lot of success undoing stuck threads by trying to tighten them first. In other words, try to screw the 2 parts of the headphone together (not too much force), then try to undo them.

[ThePillenwerfer]

I've found the best thing to shift recalcitrant ear-pieces on Bakelite telephone handsets is to warm them up with a heat-gun. Make sure you put thick gloves on before trying to un-screw them afterwards.

[12jslater]

would freezing it work? I have unstuck metal bolts like this before.

[russell_w_b]

I would agree with trying to tighten them slightly first, but not too much in case the bakelite cracks. Loosen them with a sheet of that grippy rubber used to aid the opening of jars for extra leverage. An old Marigold glove would do.

[M0FYA Andy]

But before getting too vicious, put them somewhere warm and dry for a period (days) to dry out any moisture absorbed by the Bakelite. Probably the wrong time of year, but hanging over a radiator, for example. As hot as you can get without causing damage.

Bakelite really does swell up significantly by absorbing moisture!

Andy

[ColinTheAmpMan1]

I have a very dim memory of some headphones like this when I was at school (decades ago). Isn't there some kind of toothed piece of metal which screws onto the side of the rear part with an elongated hole for the screw? The teeth can then be engaged with the teeth around the front part to prevent accidental unscrewing (by the usual incompetent but nosey user - generally a squaddie).
I suppose you know about this already, though.
Colin.

[JacKam_]

If the two parts are screwed together and bakelite swells - why to keep them "nice and warm" instead of putting the lower part on a moist cloth ?
The part you are holding will swell, so it would be easier to unscrew it. That's what I would do ...

J

[M0TGX Terry]

Noooooooooooooo! Don't try to solve the problem caused by damp by wetting/ dampening another part! The filler in bakelite is often wood dust, and if you get it too wet it will swell and break the whole thing (that's what wrecks bakelite cabinets when people stand pot plants or vases of flowers on top of them) . I suggest the way to go is to put it in the airing cupboard and get it really dry, then try unscrewing the two halves using something "grippy" to get a good grip on it without crushing , so no Mole Grips or other fearsome metal tools. I have had success using a cheap plastic strap wrench which uses a rubber band to do the gripping. Mine is a cheap one which came from somewhere like Betterware, if I recall correctly. Try your local pound shop.
Good luck with it, just go carefully and don't let anything damp get anywhere near it.

Stop a big hairy biker with gloves on, (the biker) he (or she) will get it off easily. Back to reality almost,, a good strong pair of gloves really helps for this sort of thing, some garden types have a rubber gripping surface.

[G6Tanuki]

Before becoming a disciple of the Roman god "Brutus Forcius", look carefully round the periphery of the screwed-together parts.

Plenty of headphones/microphones from that era had a discreet hole below which was a spring-loaded pin that needed to be depressed before the two halves could be unscrewed. It's possible that this hole will have become filled with crud [congealed dandruff, sweat and/or that horrible hair-pomade called "Macassar" or "Silvikrin" which remained inexplicably popular amongst certain classes well into the 1930s] and so not be immediately obvious.

which was a spring-loaded pin that needed to be depressed before the two halves could be unscrewed.

A very valid point, you would need three hands then, so stop a big...