Quote from: Kenton K on December 30, 2013, 10:45:34 PM
Now, the tedious part, clean all the parts with soap, water, or whatever you use. Be careful with using solvent, as it will remove any date and code stamps. You can also use steel wool on the buttons to remove some discoloration.
Am working on cleaning smokers yellow crud off of a TT dial.
Looking at the buttons, it seems the numbers and letters are or have been attached in some way on top of the grey buttons. I worked slowly with weak solvents and mildly abrasive cleaners to get as far as the after photo attached.
I still have yellowish letters and numbers. I have two problems, whitened gray plastic and darkened lettering. If I use steel wool, do I run the risk of wearing down the text characters.
So, any suggestions on how to get the buttons darker grey and less yellow characters?
Click on the photos to enlarge them to see the before and so far after changes.
The old folks where I growed up used vinegar & water to clean the tar out of ashtrays. Pretty strong mix, iirc. Sometimes straight vinegar, if they were really grubby. Seen the same done in many restaurants I worked in as a young'un. Maybe this will help.
I wouldn't think vinegar would have any adverse effect on the parts, but I could be mistaken.
Maybe a q-tip dipped in the vinegar, used to gently rub a key would be a place to start.
Best of luck, and best regards!
Here is the method I settled on. Not the best results but better than it was. Came up with this after careful trial and error testing of a lot of different things and steps - started over 3 times before settling on this method.
All of this was done with Q-tips, quite a few, in fact.
1) Cleaned each button with isopropyl alcohol three times to degrease the surface
2) Used 3 or 4 applications of Brasso to get the grime off
3) Used isopropyl alcohol three times to get the Brasso residue off
4) Used straight vinegar three times to clean the surface of anything that was left.
5) Used isopropyl alcohol twice to clean and dry the surface of each button
5) Applied several (5-6) coats of Mother's Back to Black car surface treatment buffing between coats
6) Applied several (3) coats of Turtle Hard Finish car wax buffing between coats
7) Applied several coats of hard white Carnauba polymer paste wax buffing between coats
The purpose was to clean off the yellowing as best as I could without destroying the characters and then to darken the grey plastic without darkening the characters. The waxes went into the plastic but did not penetrate the characters. Would have liked to have ended up with higher contrast (lighter letters and darker plastic) but the dial is 45 years old so I guess it doesn't have to look NOS.
-------------------------------
EDIT: additional work
A few days, the buttons restored with the above process began to dry out leaving a white wax in the crevices as seen in the buttons on the left (surrounded in pink) at this link:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=14088.msg147153#msg147153
After reading the help I got from forum members, I first picked these flocked applicators ($1.90 for a pack of 24 in the beauty section of my local drug store)
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=14088.msg147220#msg147220
and used just one to clean each button top 3 or 4 times with straight ammonia. This took off all of the wax I applied in the first process and also removed any dirt or grime that may have been on them. That got me back to clean and dry buttons.
I then applied a liberal coating of Avon Skin-So-Soft with a regular Q-tip. I let that soak in for about 6 hours and then removed the excess. I applied another liberal coating of SSS and let that sit another 6 hours. I again wiped the excess of and buffed each key with a soft cotton cloth. I let it sit for a few hours and then took the photo of the pad on the right. This photo is similar to the one in the center which was taken right after the first process above, before the waxes dried out leaving less than desirable results. In a few days, I will update this photo with what ever the dial pad looks like after it dries out, if it does.
A close up of the buttons is posted on the next page.
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=14088.msg147246#msg147246
On a side note...
Any thoughts on a Princess Touch Tone that is missing the ink in several of the numbers? On those buttons, the numbers/letters are embosse, so there's some process to get ink/paint down into the crevices to make the characters visible again...
(picture added) As you can see in the picture, the 7 & 8 got lots of use, but the Sextile
- and Octothorpe
- are nice and dark (don't you love Bell System Engineering lingo ;-) )
Thanks!
Jim
Quote from: compubit on March 29, 2015, 10:48:23 PM
On a side note...
Any thoughts on a Princess Touch Tone that is missing the ink in several of the numbers? On those buttons, the numbers/letters are embosse, so there's some process to get ink/paint down into the crevices to make the characters visible again...
Thanks!
Jim
I didn't go down and look at one to verify or see how they are made but if you mean the numbers are recessed, below the surface, then wouldn't it be quite easy to squeegee the slightly thinned out paint into the number and then wipe the surface clean?
If the numbers are raised, that would not work.
Quote from: TelePlay on March 29, 2015, 10:52:03 PMI didn't go down and look at one to verify or see how they are made but if you mean the numbers are recessed, below the surface, then wouldn't it be quite easy to squeegee the slightly thinned out paint into the number and then wipe the surface clean?
If the numbers are raised, that would not work.
Hi teleplay... These are numbers carved into the plastic. So it could use of indelible ink. This ink is not crumbling when it is dry. Have a great day ;)
Quote from: Contempra on March 30, 2015, 08:08:37 AM
Quote from: TelePlay on March 29, 2015, 10:52:03 PMI didn't go down and look at one to verify or see how they are made but if you mean the numbers are recessed, below the surface, then wouldn't it be quite easy to squeegee the slightly thinned out paint into the number and then wipe the surface clean?
If the numbers are raised, that would not work.
Hi teleplay... These are numbers carved into the plastic. So it could use of indelible ink. This ink is not crumbling when it is dry. Have a great day ;)
One of the things I did when working on my buttons was to see if I could somehow dye them a few shades darker. I found out that the plastic will absorb some types of inks and possible paints depending on their thinners. So, I would be very carefull if using an ink to renumber the buttons, to not get ink on the plastic which if happens might be difficult to remove, depending on how deep the ink penetrated the plastic.
The photo provided above does show recessed numbers so there must be something that works, something someone else may have tried successfully in the past. Not much on the forum with respect to this type of work.
Don't worry about damaging the button legends on most dials (or number plates on rotary sets).
They are "double injection molded" so the color goes deep.
The translucent buttons for illuminated dials use a different process, as described above, but the legends can be restored by carefully filling-in with paint or other dark substance.
Yes, steel wool is no problem for the buttons.
Ken
For surface coffee, tar and nicotine coatings I use either a curved hemostat with a folded 1" to 1-1/2" x 1/4" square of paper towel moistened with straight ammonia to use as a cleaning swab or a paper towel with ammonia using vinyl disposable gloves. it removes most of those coatings. If there is sugar involved, use the towel moistened with warm water. I work with controls for radio communications equipment and they get plenty nasty and I use the old reliable ammonia from time to time. Don't allow it to flow into the inner workings though. just a cloth dampened with it should be enough.
Quote from: 19and41 on March 30, 2015, 06:10:06 PM
For surface coffee, tar and nicotine coatings I use either a curved hemostat with a folded 1" to 1-1/2" x 1/4" square of paper towel moistened with straight ammonia to use as a cleaning swab or a paper towel with ammonia using vinyl disposable gloves. it removes most of those coatings. If there is sugar involved, use the towel moistened with warm water. I work with controls for radio communications equipment and they get plenty nasty and I use the old reliable ammonia from time to time. Don't allow it to flow into the inner workings though. just a cloth dampened with it should be enough.
Well, I'm going to have to start over so will try the above. Went down to take these pictures of the buttons today and was disappointed to see that the grey plastic was starting to lighten up on some buttons. Looking at these buttons up close, it's easy to see that some received more touches over the years than others. These deep creases will never be removed so I'll work on trying to lighted up the letters and find a way to get a uniform and hopefully permanent darkening of the grey plastic.
For comparison, a TT dial from 1975 is on the right. While it does not show the "age" marks, it does show stress cracks, possibly from the injection molding of the numbers, in the "1" "8" and "#" buttons. Also, the buttons on the 1975 dial shows the lettering may not have been pure white to begin with so the yellowing of the 1965 dial may not be as bad as first thought.
I know this is tar and other stuff from a very heavy cigarette smoker. I will post a few pictures of the handset, specifically the inside of the transmitter which is, well, uh, describable picture to follow . . .
Quote from: TelePlay on April 02, 2015, 08:50:48 PM
I know this is tar and other stuff from a very heavy cigarette smoker. I will post a few pictures of the handset, specifically the inside of the transmitter which is, well, uh, describable picture to follow . . .
As promised, here is the transmitter end of the handset from which this TT dial was removed. And, yes, the threads on the handset cap are broken, half in the cap, half where they should be - junk.
One thing I have had good luck with, moistening a cloth with it and rubbing all sides of the buttons, followed with a dry cloth, is this..
http://www.arrowmagnolia.com/productcart/pc/GLAYZIT-TELEPHONE-REFINISHER-56p953.
it gives a little lubrication to the buttons, without attracting dirt or dust.
Quote from: 19and41 on April 03, 2015, 02:26:21 PM
One thing I have had good luck with, moistening a cloth with it and rubbing all sides of the buttons, followed with a dry cloth, is this..
http://www.arrowmagnolia.com/productcart/pc/GLAYZIT-TELEPHONE-REFINISHER-56p953.html
it gives a little lubrication to the buttons, without attracting dirt or dust.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
I found a new "tool" a few days ago and tried it out with ammonia. One stick lasted forever with ammonia. By that, I mean I used it to clean all of the buttons 4 or 5 times each to get the wax if put on each button off and anything that was still on the keys from years of use. These are a firm cotton tip on a plastic stick about the side of a Q-Tip but the cotton tip is more like a felt. My wife said they are used to apply certain types of lip and nail coatings in salons. The ammonia and rubbing did not deform or destroy the felt tip one bid.
The button tops are looking much better with the wax out of the crevices. Working on something new to apply to fill in the crevices. That Glaz-It looks interesting, don't have any, but noticed it contains silicone, something I've tried to keep out of my work area.
Here's the tool. I paid about $1.90 for a package of 24. I can see using these in many places I've used Q-tips where I found Q-tips did a poor job because they started to deform quickly. You can see in the picture it has a chiseled tip so it can be used 3 different ways on a surface. I got these from the make-up area of a local drug store.
I'm going to be looking for some of those soon! Good find!
Cool tool! Gonna hunt some down this weekend.
Seem to get some unusual looks of late when visiting the drugstores: mass quantities of peroxide hair products, makeup applicators, etc...
Jim
Looks like the star (sextile) on the older TT pad is 90° off.
Quote from: Russ Kirk on April 03, 2015, 06:22:20 PM
Looks like the star (sextile) on the older TT pad is 90° off.
Hah! Good eye. It is. I took those one at a time using a high mag USB camera and assembled them in Photoshop. They were all 90 degrees off. Looks like I forgot to rotate that one. All fixed . . . ;)
The dial pad on the far right (with a few buttons missing thanks to my computer) is what the keys look like after the process I used, after the
"EDIT" line at the bottom of this post:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=14088.msg146825#msg146825
You can see a major difference between the keys on the left and those on the right, especially #'s 3, 6, 7 and 9.
The second photo below is a close up of 6 buttons with the worse crevices showing what they now look like with the SSS. You can compare "3, 6 & 7" in the pink with "3, 6 & 7" in the orange to see the difference in wax in the crevice vs. oil in the crevice. Will the SSS stay over time? Time will tell. Id it doesn't, it will be back to the ammonia to clean the buttons and then try something else.
Finished dial, on the far right.
Quote from: compubit on April 03, 2015, 06:19:56 PM
Cool tool! Gonna hunt some down this weekend.
Seem to get some unusual looks of late when visiting the drugstores: mass quantities of peroxide hair products, makeup applicators, etc...
Here is another use for those flocked applicators. They work great as a miniature sanding pad. Here I cut a thin strip of 2000 grit sandpaper and used a thin strip of electrical tape to tightly mount it over the tip of the applicator. The angled part of the sandpaper works great (wet or dry) for surface areas while the "back" flat side works well as a "file" sander. You can use whatever grit you need. I needed the high grit for a finishing application.
And while in the beauty section, take a look at these. I posted these in another topic some time ago but since I just used them today. These are nail stick files. They come in everything from 100 to 600 grit (maybe higher. One side is one grit, the other a slightly different grit. These work well as a small sanding block, either wet or dry, and the nail sticks are washable so they last a long time. They are about a dollar each.
Speaking of tools, while I'm at it, thought I'd show how I clean cords, handset or line.
Bought this fishing bate box (http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Flambeau_00550_Big_Mouth_Spinnerbait_Box_with_Zerust/descpage-FL6150.html?gclid=CK_IgOvW38QCFZA2aQodkl0AkQ), about 8x8x6 for about $9, took the partitions out and use it as a sealed bath box for a variety of things.
For cords, I bought a 6" diameter round foam block, about an inch thick, from the fake flower/crafts department at my local Walmart. Drilled two 1" holes in it. I secure the space lug wired with tape and then shove the ends through the holes using small clamps to hold them in place. I just float the foam pad in the bath solution of my choice to soak the cords. The open ends are never exposed to moisture.
Simply remove the block, spray off the wet cord with a water hose, remove the cord from the block and use a towel to clean the remaining softened crud off.
Seems like a lot of work but with a lot of cords to clean, it was well worth the cost and time to put it together. That's how I do it.
Each probably has their own way. Posted here in case anyone may be interested in this design to clean cords.
Quote from: david@london on April 03, 2015, 01:53:55 PM
teleplay -
your clean up of the keypad looks v good.
to save effort, i found that an electric toothbrush can be very effective at cleaning these buttons - with just a little novus polish. forum link (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=8210.msg120591#msg120591)
I use this kind of toothbrush for cleaning
Quote from: TelePlay on April 05, 2015, 12:15:59 PM
Finished dial, on the far right.
Nice clean up Teleplay, what do you use ? I am sure i missed something ;)