Dan, sorry I'm a bit late in responding, but I haven't been "Listing" too
regularly of late and just saw your note. Anyway, I restored my hub a couple
of years ago and was quite pleased with the result. I figured if my idea
didn't work, I could always paint it.
I got the idea from a woodworking tool sharpening method called "scary
sharp" where you start wet sanding with coarse grit (220 or so) wet or dry
sandpaper and work through progressively finer grits (up to 2000). I thought
if it will make a high carbon steel chisel so shiny you can use it as a
mirror (and it does!), surely it would work on bakelite. I seem to recall
buffing it with white buffing compound when I was finished with the sanding.
The result was a very smooth, satin finish black with just a hint of a
brownish tint. Probably not what it was when new, but I rather like the fact
that it has a beautiful patina now...looks like it has aged gracefully!
Plus, it won't peel off!
It was not particularly time consuming or tedious (beats the he!! out of
sheet metal rust repair, but that's another story!!!). I did all the sanding
by hand, then used the buffing wheel. You might want to give it a shot if
you haven't already painted.
Good luck.
Michael Ferguson
1959 TR3A, TS53990L...O
-----Original Message-----
From owner-triumphs at Autox.Team.Net [mailto:owner-triumphs@Autox.Team.Net]
On Behalf Of Dan Scharpf
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2004 9:40 AM
To: triumphs@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Restoring Bakelite
I'm working on the center cap of the steering wheel of my '54 TR2, and
the bakelite is quite faded....
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