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AE 80 in Dawn Gray - The last color needed for my collection

Started by JorgeAmely, March 08, 2010, 10:00:46 PM

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Wallphone

You can never sand them off. They are not painted on.  With the process that they used, the letters & numbers went all the way through the number plate.
Dougpav

Dennis Markham

Doug, when you say "dial" you mean the dial bezel?  The bezels for the AE and WE phones were actually made by the same company.  The plastic is sandwiched so that the letters/numbers are actually as "thick" as the rest of the plastic.  Therefore they cannot be sanded away.  

However, on very early W.E. sets....1950, the face of the dial plate (dial bezel) was an overlay type and they CAN be ruined if sanded.  But any I've seen after 1950 were the sandwiched plastic type.

I'm sure you've seen this posting but I'll post it for the others that haven't.  Look down near the bottom and there will be a photo of the back of the dial bezels of both the AE and WE model 500 type phones.  You can see the white plastic that is sandwiched with the top color.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=2050.msg27511#msg27511

(Sorry WallPhone, your post came while I was posting this - so it's repetitive in that respect).

Doug Rose

Doug/Dennis....thanks for the info, I really appreciate it.....Doug
Kidphone

JorgeAmely

Bill:

You are right, the logo is covered by the handset, but I think this one faced a window because it is UV damaged in the middle of the logo.

Doug:
Dougpav:

Whenever I say sanding, I am referring to wet sanding, otherwise, the sand paper doesn't last too long. The numbers wheel was started with 400, then 600, 1000, 1500 and finally Novus 2. I could have stopped at 1000 grit to leave it looking like the original factory finish (matte finish), but the original finish gets dirty quicker than a polished finish. It would be interesting to know why they decided to have a different finish for this part only.

The wheel is double injected therefore the numbers and letters are very thick. The base color (gray in this case) is about 1/32 or 1 millimeter thick, but there are no guarantees that the thickness is even all across the wheel. If you are not careful, you may sand too much around the numbers area and wipe out all the base color making the white color show everywhere around a number. This is a tricky area because many people have used pencils and pens to dial and it is possible to ruin the wheel if you try to remove all pits and scratches. Again, not too critical because the finger wheel over it distracts your eyes from picking up minor imperfections below.
Jorge

Jim Stettler

Quote from: Wallphone on March 11, 2010, 09:34:16 AM
You can never sand them off. They are not painted on.  With the process that they used, the letters & numbers went all the way through the number plate.
Dougpav

Just to throw some exceptions out there:


WE sometimes used Backpainted dial bezels for custom color sets. The very early 500's also had back painted dials.

I have a WE "Howard Johnson's" orange dial that is backpainted w/ white letters. I assume they also made black letter dial blanks.

On Clear 500 sets I have seen colored dials, White letter dials and full clear dials.

I also have some back painted SC dial rings.


I also have an early rd button Keyset (black) that has Rose-beige letters.


I would be interested in some of the back-painted dial bezels (with or w/o back paint), if anyone has some for sell.
Jim
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

JorgeAmely

Two more hours and the handset looks very nice after 400 grit. The microphone cap is a shade darker that the speaker cap, so there is not much that can be done to recover the original color. It feels different when you sand it, so I suspect it to be Tenite, just like the numbers wheel.

The rest of the phone is ABS (hard plastic).
Jorge

Phonesrfun

-Bill G

JorgeAmely

All the electrical gremlins have been chased, the handset polished, line cord fixed. That was three hours tonight and I am exhausted.  :P :P :P Long road still ahead.

I put on the housing before any work, so you can see the faded versus the new color.

Jorge

Jester

Jorge,
I see you & I work in reverse from one another!  I would have started on the cover first, then the small parts.  But, I am left handed! ;D  Really nice job so far!
Stephen

AET

Wow, your phone is coming along fantastically!  I am glad to see everyone's really getting good at their restorations!

Also jester, I'm left handed and would've done it the same way as you! Except I may have started with the dial face.
- Tom

Jim Stettler

I am right-handed.

My theory is to find a good-to-excellent restorer at a fair-to-low price. And hire them for cash or preferably trade.

Some restorers are craftsman in the restorative art.
I am not a restoriative craftsman, I will probably never be. I am more of a buyer and historian.

I do have a good supply of trade stock, and I am willing to pay a craftsman their due.

Summed up=Do-it-yourself but hire a good trim guy/gal, (or become a good trim guy/gal). Money spent on professional services is not wasted if you are hiring a professional. Some  names as restorer actual can add value.

JMO,
Jim

BTW the term "Craftsman" is a title. It applies to women as well as men. I only use the term Craftswomen, if they are present and I am picking on them.


I have 3 sisters, no brothers, so I pick on girls.
I have 4 daughters and no sons, so I also pick on little girls.
I consider Bawana  a "CraftsWomen",  {meaning she is pickable } ,
Hi Bwana...
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

McHeath

Great job Jorge!  The level of yellowing is so severe that I would have feared it was a goner, but you are certainly pulling this phone together and it's going to really look sharp when you are done. 

Dennis Markham

It is looking very nice Jorge.  I guess there are two school of thought on which part to start with first.  Do the easy stuff first to get it out of the way, or do the difficult stuff first to get them out of the way.  In the end you have to do it all.  I tend to start with the cover first and I'm right handed.  I have decided in experience sanding hard plastic is much easier than make soft plastic look nice.

Can't wait to see it when it's complete.  But there is no rush.  A good job takes time. 

Dan

I am a lefty and would have done it in the order you did yours. I always save the easier stuff for last.
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

Dan

Jorge, since you are an AE80 guy, do you know if the soft tenite plastic came around mid 1959 like the WE 500? They don't date these well, like Western does.  I have two soft plastic AE80's. I noticed the earcap has no center hole like the WE500's, which is a good way to tell them apart.

Do the soft plastic ones all have the handset cord exiting out the back and not the side like the newer ones?

Please post a picture of all the colours when you can. It will be a great reference !
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright