David Crate's Quality Slide Rules - Policies and General Info

Restored Pickett 160C-T

Here is the procedure as sent to me by my customer:

To get this result, I used the following process:

1. Remove the rule from the paper backing by pulling gently but firmly, trying apply stress uniformly and not to any particular part of the rule. I also tried not to bend the rule, but to peel the cardboard away from it.

2. Peel off the front page (label).

3. Peel off the tape on the back, as completely as possible, again applying stress uniformly to avoid bending the rule or pulling on any single part of it. Remove all the tape, leaving the glue residue behind.

4. Use IPA and a fine piece of cloth to remove the glue from the back. (This is OK as there is no ink on the back.) Use only as much IPA as necessary to loosen and remove the glue, and don't let it get over to front side.

5. Pick off the tape on the front with a firm but soft, non metallic, implement (fingernails seem to work). Take small bites, and dig only enough to get under the tape. Leave only the glue residue, no tape.

6. Remove as much of the glue residue from the front as possible by gently using the non-metallic implement to slide it up into small particles that that can be plucked free. Do this on the white areas of the rule; avoid the printed areas.

7. To remove the glue residue on the front of the rule I used a plastic cleaner that was part of a computer cleaning kit I got at Costco or Sam's Club a long time ago. I doubt if this particular cleaning solution is available any more, but something similar might be for sale at a CompUSA or another computer supply place. The stuff I have was marked "Degreaser - Surfactant" and I am willing to bet something like "Formula 409" would be basically the same.

8. I used a cotton swab with a small amount of this plastic cleaner to gently swap the remaining glue residue. Some of the small, hardened pieces took a little effort, but I managed to remove virtually all of the glue. The cleaner didn't seem to effect the ink at all, as far as I could see, but I wouldn't advise scrubbing hard or continuing the swabbing too long to get rid of every last speck of the glue.

9. After the majority of the glue has been removed, removing the rest is easier if the slide is pulled out and treated separately. Removing the slide would have been hard until most of the glue was gone, and would have required more force than I wanted to use. I didn't move the cursor until the glue was all gone to avoid getting any on the inside of the window. I also removed glue from the slide and body channels once the slide was out. Very careful use of IPA here sped up the work, but again, I was careful to keep the IPA from the face of the rule.

9. Then I rinsed the rule with a mild soap solution, followed by a rinse in clean lukewarm water. The rule was then stood vertically to dry.

I think the result looks pretty good. I can't tell the glue was ever there.