Sanding ABS

[foots]

  I have been sanding my light blue 554 and thus far its turning out pretty good, especially considering how badly it had yellowed. I have a couple of small spots to go over again as well as the handset caps and dial bezel. It is the sanding of the dial bezel that I am concerned about. Are there any special tips or tricks involved in doing this that I need to be aware of, or do I just take my time and sand it like normal. BTW, I'm using 1000 grit paper and soapy water. Here's the before picture. The picture isn't too good, the phone looked much worse in person.

[Kenny C]

what are the dates on it

[foots]

  Everything is dated 5-65 with the exception of the handset cord. I guess the original cord was too short and was replaced with the one that's on there now.

  BTW, how does one at least lighten the discoloration were the Western Electric logo is on the front? It really looks bad now that the housing is back to its original color.

[Kenny C]

there is a thread around here some where about it I think

[JorgeAmely]

I have sanded a few of those before. Typically I start at 400, then move up to 600, 1000, 1500 and finish it with Novus 2 and the Ryobi polisher.

Since the hole is in the middle, I use a 4x4 section of water proof sandpaper, fold it twice down to a 2x2 size and sand from edge to edge going as close as possible to the center hole. Every few strokes I rotate the wheel and always keep the surfaces wet. I don't use soap. Do this for 5 or 7 full rotations of the wheel and then try to do a full circular wipe around the wheel. Repeat with all grits. If the sand paper gets plugged with ABS plastic, rotate it around to expose a new 2x2 section.

At the end you will end up with a very shiny numbers wheel. Problem is that the phone company never finished these wheel so shiny, so you may want to stop at 1000 and just polish it with Novus 3 or 2 by hand, not with a machine.

I prefer them shiny, but that is just my personal taste, since my phones are destined for my office, not a museum.

I really would like to know why the phone company chose to finish them dull and not like the rest of the phone. Does anybody know?

For the rest of the phone, you can use the same recipe, but to preserve the sharpness of the edges, never sand the edges, just along the edges. Just don't try to do the whole thing at once. I usually don't work more than one hour on this; first, your skin does not like water for so long and second, your fingers, wrists, elbows and shoulders may not like the prolonged repetitive motion.

Finish by washing everything with soap and water, dry with compressed air and hit it with F21, wipe to a nice shine and hang on your favorite wall.

PS: Take some pictures.

[foots]

  Kenny, I looked for that thread but wasn't able to find it.

  Thanks Jorge for the advice. I think I'll leave the numbers wheel shiny - this phone was used heavily before I got it and once I finish with it, it'll go right back into service again. I sanded the housing in 2 afternoons last weekend since I bored and wanted to pass the time. I did the handset as soon as I finished the housing. I used 1000 grit for the entire thing since that's what I had on hand at the time. I then used rubbing compound and then some brasso to shine them up so I could see if there are any spots I needed to sand again and there are, though they are small. I'll take care of that along with the numbers wheel and handset caps. This shade of blue really is quite nice and I can't wait to finish it. I'll get pictures up as as soon as I'm done.

[paul-f]

<snip>
I really would like to know why the phone company chose to finish them dull and not like the rest of the phone. Does anybody know?
<snip>

My guess is that the "dull" finish was purposely less reflective, making it easier for users to see the numbers and letters when dialing.  The angle of the dial could reflect light -- especially from general overhead lighting in offices.

The Bell System did lots of research to speed up dialing speed and accuracy.  Every marginal improvement helped optimize the use of central office equipment -- cutting their costs.

[Doug Rose]

I have sanded a few of those before. Typically I start at 400, then move up to 600, 1000, 1500 and finish it with Novus 2 and the Ryobi polisher.


Jorge ....what is the model number of the Ryobi polisher that you use? Are you satified with it? Any tips for a newbie with this in my hands?....thanks....Doug

[JorgeAmely]

Doug:

This is the model:

http://www.ryobitools.com/catalog/power_tools/buffer_polishers/RB60K

... but the original string pads are useless. They get tangled up inside the machine or fly away. Get 6" replacements from Walmart instead. They have an elastic band around it to secure it to the rotating pad.

Check out these posts from a while back.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1259.0

My advice is to practice on an old junker to get the hang of it. There is always a chance your old junker may turn into a very nice looking phone. This polisher is usually the last step after touching up the original finish with water proof sandpaper.  It will give you a grand piano finish you can comb your hair on. There are cases where you can avoid the polisher entirely if you sand the surface progressively all the way to 12,000 grit. There are many vendors of this sandpaper, but these people seem to have a good product:

http://www.sculpt.com/   Look for Micro-mesh sandpaper, part number 800903

If everything fails catastrophically (your phone slips off your hands and falls into the ground or the power cord ends up around your neck   etc ), you can use the Ryobi to polish your wife's car or furniture around the house.

She'll love you for it.