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My '38 WE 302 Chrome Like Refinish - Before & After

Started by Kjmcmurdo, November 04, 2017, 11:01:24 AM

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Kjmcmurdo

This is my first post, so please forgive any mistakes.

Before and after photos of my WESTERN ELECTRIC 1938 PREWAR 302 ROTARY PHONE.

I tried cleaning the phone, but the paint was so pitted and chipped, I opted to repaint it. It took many hours to remove the black paint. I noticed that I could buff the metal to a nice mirror-like chrome shine.  So, I decided to finish it in Chrome.

I hooked up a separate cord to plug into the wall.  I don't have a pulse to tone converter, but I am able to get calls with resounding RINGING notification And have a conversation.

I hope the images upload.


.....

Very nice, Welcome to CRPF.

Pourme

Welcome to the forum!

I have a 302 that I went through the same process with. If you ever decide to paint it it's ready to go!

Benny
Benny

Panasonic 308/616 Magicjack service

Kjmcmurdo

Thanks Benny.
I really like the mirror-like finish, but you're right.  It is primed and ready to paint.

TelePlay

Here's Pourme's phone



and Doug Rose did both a North



and a 302 as well the same way



and I also did a 302



which looked like this on eBay where I got it for $20 plus $12 in shipping.




These are all polished pot metal housings (not chromed) but they look just as good as chrome.

What you did was great and as Benny said, if you wanted to paint it, all you need to do is rough it up with 400 grit sandpaper and paint away.



Kjmcmurdo

Love Them All! I prefer the polished look.  And, thanks for the heads up that it is pot metal.  I didn't know that.

TelePlay

Yes, and somewhere in the process of all these it was discovered that not all pot metal is the same. Depending on what they threw into the pot, the metal housing can be different in that some seem "harder" than others with the "softer" mixes holding the original paint better (the black on mine came off with the white rattle can paint in one stripping) but the "harder" metals polishing up to a higher shine.

On mine, there are some areas that are a bit softer than others and those spots ended up a bit duller than the rest of the housing. You can almost see the way the metal was mixed (if not well) before casting in that veins of different metal mixtures can be seen if you  look closely.

Nice job on your phone. Do you have any other in the works or completed?

.....

I have some extra metal ones kicking around. I think I'll give it a shot and see how mine will turn out.

Kjmcmurdo

#8
Yes, I just posted about the estate sale I went to and got a Motherload of phones. I don't know how to point you to the post though

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EDIT: Simply copy the URL of the other topic and paste it into this topic, like this

     http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=19173.0

Kjmcmurdo

Some?  That's a nice selection.  If I were to do another metal phone.  I would use my dremel to sand the black off instead of by hand.  I was afraid the dremel would be to harsh.  I tested the dremel ROUND Sanders on the back when I was almost done, and was surprised how quickly the black came off and how semi-smooth it left the metal.
It was a 220 grit sander bit.  I then used 2000 grit before started polishing.
Then polished using Meguiars X 2.0 with the soft cloth dremel bit.  Then used Formula 1 scratch out with the cloth bit.  And finally, I used Meguiars PLASTX.  It says it is for clear plastic, but it polished without leaving any haze.  In the tricky areas, I finished it off using 5000 grit sandpaper.

I wish the photos showed how beautiful it looks in person.

Pourme

#10
I did a AE Red Line Kellogg Red Bar and you can tell the difference in the metal. No matter how much you polish all you can get is a matt shine.
Benny

Panasonic 308/616 Magicjack service

Kjmcmurdo

I did not know that.  Thanks for the info.  I picked out.  It was a happy accident!