I picked up a black Kellogg/ITT 554, dated 1960 originally but appears have been refurbished several times. At some point, the Black was painted over Turquoise!
I'd like to remove the black to bring out the turquoise. It appears to be some sort of an epoxy coat, like Polane or something similar. I've tried using Easy Off and some other basic household cleaners I know won't harm the plastic, but I've only been able to use Easy Off to remove some of the overspray on the inside after some serious soaking and scrubbing. The outside seems to be unharmed, even after a 10 hour soak in Easy Off.
What do you guys use??
Sand paper.
Check this album for tips: http://picasaweb.google.com/Amelyenator/1955RoseBeige#
So brake fluid just bounces off of Polane as well?
Terry
Brake fluid is alcohol based & won't touch it. I have used carburetor/choke cleaner to remove epoxy finishes from plastic--it works well. EXTREME CARE should be taken on soft plastics, but I haven't noticed any problems with ABS. Even after using this, I have still felt the need to sand. You won't use nearly as much sandpaper if you do this first, though.
In the phone shown in the album below, I used some lacquer paint thinner and acetone to remove Polane from the corners and edges, however, it mars the original finish, thus making sanding a necessity for restoring a mirror like finish. A rag wet with any of these wipes off the Polane paint, and you can do no more than one or two passes. The material of the rag gets impregnated with the Polane paint and you constantly have to use a new patch. You need to wear rubber gloves when removing this stuff, as well as using a well ventilated work area.
What I used a lot was a very thin piece of plastic (2" by 3", less than 1/16" thick), wrapped it with sandpaper and made a tool to sand along the edges.
In addition ... patience. Don't try to do it all at once. Plan to remove that stuff over many sessions.
Jorge;
Were you able to save the original lettering on the inside ?
D/P
I've done a few of these before - white, aqua, cherry red, beige.... There's yellowed phones and then there's polane coated phones. I just used sand paper all the way - nothing else. 220 grit will cut into a polane coating pretty fast. If you're sanding out yellowing, you can even go to 100 grit for deep digging. 100 grit is *very* rough so you need to follow up with a diligent effort with the 220 grit. Delicate areas like cradle's and sharp edges, I wouldn't go less than the 220, though. Like Jorge, I didn't mess with the logo's/raised lettering... If your coating is the same as the plastic, usually this doesn't look too bad. If the polane coating is a different color, then you'll need some kind of chemical to remove it from the logo areas... I never looked into this...
Always wet sand. I usually sand at the kitchen sink with the water running. I cut a sheet of sandpaper into 1/16th's. Take an old yardstick and saw off about 2" - makes for a great sanding block for the 1/16 sandpaper squares (or rather rectangles). Of course, a lot of the sanding needs to be done without the sanding block. After the housing is completely sanded back to the original color, then you need to go over everything again with 600 grit or higher - this will prep it for buffing. I find 600 grit is the minimum I can use to buff out sanding marks with blue PBC (plastic buffing compound).
Practice helps - practice on something impossibly ugly or damaged. It's a lot of work.... labor of love, I suppose...
Quote from: Dan/Panther on November 11, 2010, 12:34:14 PM
Jorge;
Were you able to save the original lettering on the inside ?
D/P
Yes, all intact.
Quote from: phone-sweep on December 04, 2010, 09:06:12 PM
...
Practice helps - practice on something impossibly ugly or damaged. It's a lot of work.... labor of love, I suppose...
I agree with you 110%.
I bought a white 2500 at an estate sale this weekend. It turned out the case was painted with what I assume was Polane. The shell was a bit yellowed, so I tried soaking it in a solution of 50% bleach. Today, when I checked the shell, I found that it was easily scratched. With a fingernail, I was able to scrape off a good-sized chunk of paint, revealing an ivory shell underneath.
Bleach might not necessarily be considered a stripper, but it seems to soften Polane to the point where it can be easily removed.
If it comes off by submerging the case in a bleach solution, I am guessing it is an acrylic based paint, not an epoxy based paint. I had the same experience with an AE80 white model dated late 70s, early 80s. An epoxy based paint, sprayed with the nasty solvents used in the 50s probably bonded to the soft plastic cases rather than stick it them.
My 2 cents. Two cents only because I could be wrong.
I gave up on the 2500 case. I'm not patient enough to scrape the paint off, and then sand it, polish it, and so on. Maybe if it was some super rare color, but ... meh, I'll just get a new translucent 2500 case from Five Star. Sure, I'll be making a frankenphone, but still ...
Elmwood, you could try denatured alcohol on the thin paint on the 2500, but if it's yellowed underneath the paint and needs sanding, I agree it's not worth the trouble.
Denatured alcohol works well on the thin paint they used in the 1970s, which I don't think is Polane. Polane is a bit thicker and a lot more sturdy. Just don't use it on soft plastic--denatured alcohol will dissolve soft plastic. Hard plastic is fine, though.
Yeah, I think it's uniformly yellowed underneath. The inside of the shell is white, and didn't respond to my fingernail, while the exterior peeled away. I tried sanding a part of the exposed exterior, and it lightened a bit. Restoring the shell would just be too much work for a run-of-the-mill 2500 daily dialer.
FWIW, the painted exterior had a very wet appearance.
Quote from: elmwood on December 07, 2010, 02:08:20 AM
I gave up on the 2500 case. I'm not patient enough to scrape the paint off, and then sand it, polish it, and so on. Maybe if it was some super rare color, but ... meh, I'll just get a new translucent 2500 case from Five Star. Sure, I'll be making a frankenphone, but still ...
Do you have contact info for purchasing translucent housings? TIA
I am in the process of refurbing a '57 soft plastic 500. I noticed that the outer housing/handset has a very mild but, even UV fade as compared to the inner housing. During the cleaning/polishing of the handset something very odd happened. A small thin layer of plastic peeled off revealing the same color underneath just unfaded!!! I am confused as to how or why this happened. This phone could not have been painted or I just can't see why they would have painted it the same exact discontinued color? Literaly, As I was polishing away after a long soak in hot water and Simple green a small thin piece of the top layer of plastic peeled off? I would compare it to peeling off the outer wax layer of cheese only to reveal a very similar color underneath. I find it hard to believe a phone was factory repainted the same color when the color underneath is unfaded/damaged ???
Quote from: AE40FAN on July 16, 2013, 02:05:30 PM
I am in the process of refurbing a '57 soft plastic 500. I noticed that the outer housing/handset has a very mild but, even UV fade as compared to the inner housing. During the cleaning/polishing of the handset something very odd happened. A small thin layer of plastic peeled off revealing the same color underneath just unfaded!!! I am confused as to how or why this happened. This phone could not have been painted or I just can't see why they would have painted it the same exact discontinued color? Literaly, As I was polishing away after a long soak in hot water and Simple green a small thin piece of the top layer of plastic peeled off? I would compare it to peeling off the outer wax layer of cheese only to reveal a very similar color underneath. I find it hard to believe a phone was factory repainted the same color when the color underneath is unfaded/damaged ???
If there was a small blemish in the plastic, they would have painted it.
If there was a small blemish in the plastic, they would have painted it.
[/quote]
Great, just my luck. Must have been done at It's original creation as it has yellow stamp marks with numbers around the edges of the handset where the caps screw on. The whole phone must be painted then. My heart just dropped into my stomach as I paid a lot of money for this phone. I feel like an idiot.
I bought a yellow soft plastic 500 on ebay. I figured it might be all original since it has a fat yellow handset cord and a 7C dial with open finger wheel.
However, it, too, has a thin layer of yellow paint on top of the original yellow color. This was done in the early 60s I think, and the original phone was fairly new when it was done.
Maybe I'll find an unpainted soft plastic yellow 500 that the dial and cords have been replaced on; then I can use this handset cord and 7C-56 dial.
This week, I found a painted G-3 handset on a refurbished black 500. Underneath the black paint, the handle and transmitter are rose beige, and the receiver cap is ivory.
I believe only the handset "might" be painted and it is done so well that I am still not sure... I've combed this phone over and I cannot find any traces of repainting on any other parts. It's all matching dates so it may have been done before it left the factory. Regardless, I am over it as the phone is turning out beautifully!
Quote from: AE40FAN on July 16, 2013, 09:58:28 PM
I believe only the handset "might" be painted and it is done so well that I am still not sure... I've combed this phone over and I cannot find any traces of repainting on any other parts. It's all matching dates so it may have been done before it left the factory. Regardless, I am over it as the phone is turning out beautifully!
Can we see a picture?
What month in 1957 was it made?