News:

"The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them." - Dan/Panther

Main Menu

Polishing Questions (to clear up the title)

Started by ntophones, August 05, 2009, 08:01:24 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

ntophones

That isn't the phone I was bidding on, but, I hope you can get the paint off. I wonder if you should start a thread about how to get the paint off? You'd probably get some great advice, I'm thinking.
Please keep us informed on your cleanup of the phone. What a nice model, though. Those AE34's are great looking design.
--nto

NYFED

they definitely are! btw....in my garage now, on my laptop. Working live w/ updates! lol

Jester

Quote from: NYFED on August 05, 2009, 10:02:00 PM
  BTW, I used No. 7 Polishing compound on one of the phones and it took less time to clean/polish than Brasso alone.
I've been trying to find No. 7 polishing compound for a few years now, and no one seems to keep that around here anymore.  NFYED, do you have a source for this?
Stephen

NYFED

JESTER:Got mine at Sears hardware in the automotive section

Jester

Stephen

McHeath

Quotethey definitely are! btw....in my garage now, on my laptop. Working live w/ updates! lol

You could set up a webcam feed so we could monitor your work. ;)

Stephen Furley

I do all polishing by hand.  The Paste Polishing No.5 is the best thing that I've found for Bakelite, but I find that it's not so good on thermoplastics.  So far, the best that I've found for these has been Brasso.

British Bakelite, at least that used for telephones, seems to be of a higher quality from the limited experience that I've had than that used in America.  Of that, I would say that my AE 40 is the best, with the handset on my SC 1543 being the worst, and the WE 302 handset and Kellogg 1000 being somewhere in between.  The American Bakelite seems to contain more filler, and I think at least some of it is asbestos rather than wood flour.  It's courser and rougher, and doesn't take as good a polish.

As far as I'm aware, 'soft' plastic wasn't used for 'phones here, we stayed with Bakelite until the 706 was introduced, in 1959.  As far as ABS is concerned there also seems to be a difference, and this time it's the American product which is superior.  Ours seems to yellow much worse than yours does, and this seems to penetrate much deeper into the plastic.  Ours also sometimes seems to develop white cloudy blotches, which are just about impossible to remove, and it also seems to be more affected by cigarette smoke

rp2813

My 1953 500 has a bakelite handset that looks very similar to the one posted above.  I tried the usual methods, beginning with plain white toothpaste, but nothing changed the appearance.  Due to this situation, this phone will never be a showpiece.  It's currently deployed on a desk in the basement where it's basically used to avoid running up the steps to answer the phone. 

Ralph
Ralph

NYFED

McHeath: OK, back from a long sabbatical (called work). I will be doing some phone work this week and will post pics.
NTO: I did some preliminary 'polishing' on that phone: lemme tell ya: WHOA! Underneath that matte finish is a GREAT shine! WOW! This phone is gonna be great. Will be doing some work on it this week and posting some pics. I'll start a new thread with progress pics, if you're interested.

Dennis Markham

We are interested!  We'd love to see some photos when you're finished.

ntophones

Yes!!!Please post pics! I am so excited for you!!!!!
ntophones
--nto