WE 1500D arrives

[McHeath]

Here are the unpacking pictures of my 1500D that I paid way more than I wanted to for.  I asked the seller to pack it carefully, see if you think they did.

[McHeath]

It was a Big Bundle of Bubble Wrap stuff inside the box.  The phone itself was inside an envelope in the middle of this amazing blob of wrap.  The handset and line cord were in a separate zip lock baggie and the phone itself was simply pushed into the envelope. 

[McHeath]

Finally found the phone deep buried in all this stuff.  Did this blob of wrap protect it?  No, there was a slight crack at the front where the phone had been pushed inwards by something.  Ugh.  When I pressed it out the crack pretty much vanished, but still.  I mean what's the point of all the wrap if the phone itself is not wrapped?

[BDM]

He did a blacksmith type of packing job. Meaning he did nothing more than slob material around the phone, instead of carefully wrapping & packing. Another job that makes you wonder how man ever set foot on the moon!!!!!!!!!

[McHeath]

Now for a couple of interesting things about this phone.  First is this very curious, to me anyway, adaptor on the end of the line cord that goes from the old hardwired end to a modular end.  It's Bell System made, has a 1974 date inside it and Western Electric logos as well as the old Bell logo on the outside.  I've never seen anything like this, was this common?

Second is the fact that the Gongs were gone.  The ringer works fine but just sorta rattles, so I took off the cover and shazam, no gongs.  

[McHeath]

Here's a shot of the bottom, giving the various data we all like to oogle.  I'm shocked at how discolored the phone is, even the rather long line cord is the same odd green/blue color.   Even up under the handle it's the same color, and the bottom of the handset is mostly the same color as well.  Where did they leave this to end up like this?

I plan to wet sand the whole thing, trying to do a full color restoration.  I've got spare gongs, so no problem there, and I will get a new aqua handset cord in a 5 foot length.  It works fine, of course, and the early touch tone dial is surprisingly complex.  Having never sanded a phone before this will be challenge. 

[BDM]

That's how I received my yellow 500, no gongs. Your results will be interesting.

[bingster]

I suppose some credit should be given for not leaving the handset on the cradle, but geez, stuffing a bunch of plastic in a box wouldn't cut it in anybody's book.

At any rate, does the phone look discolored to you, or is it just dirty?  It looks filthy from my end, and with a good scrubbing, it may turn out that the coloring is fine.

Regarding the odd plug.  I have to say I've never seen anything like that before.  Never saw a reference to one, either.  Very interesting.

[Dennis Markham]

Heath, it's awful that they couldn't package that phone to keep it from being damaged.  I would be very disappointed and have to contact them about that.  The box sure doesn't look damaged so the damage came from within.  Was it rattling around inside at all?  Another factor for us here in the east right now with the cold, is that those boxes sit out where it's extremely cold.  That thin plastic can crack.  I hold my breath every time I unpack one of these phones.  Especially the plastic on a phone like that...it is much thinner than the older plastic.

[McHeath]

Yes the wrapping job was a disappointment, as was the crack to what is otherwise an intact shell.  That's an interesting thought about the cold, and the phone did come from Indiana so that may have affected it.  No damage to the box, and the crack is clearly new.  Geesh.  When I first saw the box I was pleased, ah a nice big new box, maybe it was done right I thought.  But when I saw the crazy blob of wrapping, with no particular order to it, then I started to get worried, and sure enough the most critical part of the deal was just sliding around in an envelope.

I gave it a scrub and yep, it's discolored pretty bad.  Real bad actually, you can see in one picture the inside of the shell with the aqua blue showing, thats also the color inside the handset.  So a sanding we will go...

On a side note, the dial mechanism, er, uh, keypad, has an odd odor about it.  It's the same odor my 1969 VW Bug had in the interior, must be from the types of plastics being used at that era. 

[Dan]

I'm looking at an aqua phone I just got and it is yellowed. What grade sandpaper do you use. I have 600, 800, and even 2000 , but need some guidance. Maybe Dennis could chime in here.

[Dennis Markham]

I will chime in....unless you need to remove some deep scratch, I always start with the higher grit because that means less sanding.  If it is hard plastic the top layer sands off easier than soft plastic.  I would begin with 1,000 grit.  If you don't see the yellow running down the drain then back down to 800.

Sand with a particular grit in one direction.  If you begin with 800 grit, keep it in one direction if you can.  No circular motions.  Let's say you use 800 grit, begin up and down (I call it north and south).  Sand the entire area you want to sand all in the same direction.  Then when you think you have removed all of the yellow and are ready to progress to the next grit, go up to 1,000.  Sand in the opposite direction.  Once you think you have sanded away ALL of the marks left by the 800 grit, rinse it (I use a soft sponge and rinse it while rubbing the sponge over the plastic).  Dry the phone.  I shake off excess water and then use a soft paper towel, wiping in the direction of the latest sanding marks.  Blow on it or let it air dry.  I look with a magnifying glass.  If I see any of the 800 marks left, you have to do more of the 1,000 grit until the previous marks (north and south) are gone.  Once you have accomplished that move up to the next grit.  If it is 1,500 or 2,000 go back to the opposite direction.  Sand with that grit until the 1,000 grit marks are gone.  Go up as high as you can.  If you can find higher grit paper than 2k, go for it.  Then I use Novus2 and the buffer.  Be careful on edges and be careful not to alter the features of the phone. 

Sanding is a huge job and my philosophy was unless it HAD to be done, don't do it.  But if you want to make a yellowed phone look nicer, for your own use then give it a shot.  Those molded logos are not possible to sand so they will remain yellowed.

If something is confusing or you have questions, let me know.  I'm not expert but I've done a few with very good results.  I have to say though that I have not sanded more than maybe 2 phones (for myself) to remove yellowing.  I usually use sanding as a method of removing scratches and gouges, especially on black phones.

[McHeath]

Okay I got some sandpaper and pulled the receiver cap off and gave it the treatment.  Geepers this is a lot of work!  However, the results are impressive, and by slowly working ones way up to the higher numbers and finishing with 2000 grit, it will shine up good as new with rubbing compound. 

However, it did not remove all the yellow.  I knew this phone was bad, so I started with 400 grit and it pulled off almost all the yellowing, but you can still see a very mild bit of it lurking under the surface.  I may have to actually go down to a lower number grit, maybe a 320, to get that yellow out. 

Do any of you phone sanders use power tools?  I could see how that would be helpful, then fingers get weary right away.  Maybe I should offshore my phone restorations.   

[Dennis Markham]

Heath, I have never used a power sander but thought of it.  But I wonder if there is one that would work with water.  Also there is more opportunity to slip and cause some major damage.  I think the problem with the "newer" phones, like the one you're working on, is that the plastic is so thin.  It is likely that the yellowing may have stained the plastic completely through.  On real deep scratch sanding projects I have gone down to 320.  This was on black soft plastic.  It's much nicer when one can do this on a straight surface or on the corner, but as you know care must be taken or the original shape of the phone can be altered. 

On my first attempt I started on a Princess phone that was at one time white.  It was/is badly yellowed.  I only paid a buck for it so I figured I couldn't hurt it.  I was able to lift much of the yellow from the phone but the little indent molded on the front of the Princess is nearly impossible to sand without disturbing the sharp, shallow edges.  I ended up sanding that ridge out, but I gave up on trying to protect that area.  Attached are a couple of photos showing the phone when I started and how some much of the yellow was removed.  I did finish removing yellow but never finished the project as I decided it was just a test project.  I see by the folder where the photos are stored that I did this in January of '06---three years ago.  I waited a while before trying another as I knew it was a huge job. 

So I would practice on a set that won't break your heart if you mess it up.  But it is one of those things that once you start there's no turning back.  Look around for those really yellowed sets, buy them cheap and give it a shot.  You just might create a nice phone.  At least nice enough to sit on a shelf for display.

[BDM]

I'd bet this yellowing is also a combination of smoke and grime over the years.