[Guest]

I've read through many of the posts here about cabinet restoration but haven't seen anything yet pertaining to shining up a natural (unpainted) bakelite cabinet. Can anyone share their experiences and recommendations about buffing out minor blemishes and restoring the luster? I assume that they did have some degree of luster to them, didn't they?

Thanks,
Jim

[Chuck Schwark]

I have used Excalibur car polish.

[Syl]

I've read through many of the posts here about cabinet restoration but haven't seen anything yet pertaining to shining up a natural (unpainted) bakelite cabinet. Can anyone share their experiences and recommendations about buffing out minor blemishes and restoring the luster? I assume that they did have some degree of luster to them, didn't they?

Thanks,
Jim

Go to this thread:
http://philcoradio.com/phorum/showthread.php?tid=1224

It is about knobs but applies equally to Bakelite cabinets.

Try that excalibur stuff too and report the results, I can't find it locally.

Syl

[Guest]

Thanks guys for your suggestions.

I decided to try the automotive cleaning/polishing/waxing materials I had on hand. Didn't have any Excalibur (Excaliber?) though, so used several things to experiment with.

I started off using Meguiar's Deep Crystal System products in their 3-step process.

Step 1: Cleaner - This did a pretty good job of removing the body oils, cigarette smoke and whatever that accumulated on the cabinet. But, it does take a lot of rubbing. If you use it, don't let it dry to a haze, as I did. Just rub it on with a swirling motion to one surface of the case at a time and immediately buff it off with a hand towel while it's still damp. Otherwise it is tough to get rubbed out. A possible alternative to this product would be automotive body rubbing compound (fine grit - the white stuff, probably not the coarser red stuff).

Step 2: Polish - I couldn't see any benefit of using this product as it didn't seem to add any appreciable luster to the bakelite.

Step 3: Wax (liquid) - I wasn't satisfied with my results with Meguiar's liquid wax; so I switched over to Harly automotive paste wax and got much better (and acceptable results). (Yeah, Chuck, I know I didn't listen to you very well, did I?)

I hope this is of some help to others.

Has anyone tried polishing bakelite with a motorized buffing pad? It seems to me that, if the speed isn't too high, this would be better than hand rubbing and much faster.

Jim

[Texasrocker]

Ive had very good luck polishing & cleaning bakelight by cleaning first with Isopropal alcohol, (clean several times first,-that grunge keeps comin off layer after layer until bounty type paper towel comes up clean with no more residue). Repolish the bakelight with "Glayzit", several coats, rubbing out the final finish. Glayzit is available at AES, and radiodaze last I checked?

[Guest]

Texasrocker,

Thanks for your tip! I'm not familiar with Glayzit, but I'll keep an eye open for it in the stores.

Jim

[jayoungs]

I read a tip on another site to try 3M Imperial hand glaze. I tried it and works amazingly well on all bakelite knobs and cabinets I've shined up - and some were in terrible shape. Soaked into a cloth, it does a great job shining up tube bases as well. I've found that two rounds of application with a soft cloth works best. Carquest auto parts stores are where I've found it.

[Guest]

Hi Jim,
After so many hints for buffing Bakelite, I will add my 2 cents to the subject. The method I use is very simple, uses little if any tiresome hand rubbing, and turns out a better than factory finish. This method is a bit more expensive, but is reusable over and over again. I have found that Bakelite can be brought back to better that original brilliance by using cotton buffing wheels of various grades between course and soft. A motor driven arbor is used to drive the cotton buffing wheel. Sears sold arbors at one time, but I have not seen their catalog in a long time. Or, the free end shaft of a motor can be adapted to mount the buffing wheel. Buffing arbors (without a motor) can be found on Ebay or Google as: “buffing arbors” for an internet search. It is important that the arbor axle have bearings, have a v-pulley wheel on it, and be mounted on a cast iron stand. Double ended arbor buffing heads are available and provide for different grade buffers on each end or a wire wheel can be used on the other end. Power driven wheels must be anchored to something stout because some pressure will be put on the piece and the wheel can’t be allowed to move around. Most all buffing products are available on the internet and I have found Eastwood products have done well for me. A catalog is available at (Eastwood.com). There are numerous articles written on the precautions of avoiding disasters while buffing anything on a spinning wheel. Basically, a very firm grip on the piece to be buffed is absolutely necessary at all times without a moment or pause in attention to the task at hand. Just one lapse in attention and the piece will be thrown out of the hands in most any direction, usually crashing to the floor. Always buff in a direction that avoids edges. Buffing into an edge will cause the wheel to bite into the piece and attempt to grab it out of grasp. Eye protection, a mask, and gloves are necessary. I have found that the Bakelite case need not be washed and rinsed to get the grunge off before buffing, unless there is an unusual amount of dirt or oil/grease contamination. A small amount of plastic buffing compound is applied to the spinning wheel. The piece is brought to the wheel and using a light pressure the buffing action will start to clean and polish the Bakelite. The plastic compound will need to be replenished on the wheel as the polishing continues. When the wheel fills with dirty compound and crud, it will need to be cleaned and fluffed while turning with a buff rake. There is no method to tell when the job is complete and whether further buffing will produce a better result. But the buffing wheel must be kept clean. Your eye and judgment is the best method.