Some time back I mentioned a polishing compound for Bakelite, used on
antique telephones and radios, called Paste Polishing No. 5. I ordered
some from a fellow in the UK and it arrived yesterday. There were no
directions for use. I e-mailed the fellow for some instructions and did
a couple quick tests.
The paste is mustard yellow and slightly watery. It smells vaguely of
naphtha and is finely gritty.
I tested patches on a set of later steering cowls and a heater-blower
housing. They are both brown - not dirt, but the effect of many small
yellow/gold fibres embedded in the substrate. I have cleaned both parts
with friction-based and frictionless cleaners, and examined various
'black' and 'brown' surface areas under a magnifying glass. This
plastic is by nature very-dark brown, and the outer layer appears black
mostly due to a predominance of substrate over fibres. Once the outer
surface has worn away from UV damage the plastic's true composition
shows.
This polish will not make brown plastic black again, but it will make
rough yellowed brown plastic darker, smoother and shinier. It will also
do the same for black plastic.
I put a small dab in the center of a large open area and used a paper
towel to rub the paste on in one step, and off in several others. Like
other polishing pastes (e.g., metal) you need to keep using clean areas
of the towel for each stage of rubbing, as the paste does remove surface
material. Looking at magnified un/polished areas, the results are
obvious: rough areas of substrate are buffed flat, though wherever you
buff through a fibre there will be a non-shiny spot. I did about 4
rounds of polishing on the blower shroud and figured it looked as good
as it would get.
The paste does put a nice shine on the plastic, with no scratches. It
does not leave an oily film that I could detect with a good wiping
with metal-wash on a fresh paper towel.
That's about all I've tested so far, and I haven't heard back yet from
the fellow that sold it to me. If you do want to have an original or
patina-ed look then I would recommend this stuff. Rub the part down with
a ScotchBrite pad first to get the roughest areas down. If your plastic
is still black but rough this stuff will spiff it up real well.
If you are interested in some I got three tubes because getting UK
currency just worked out that way.
--- J e r o m e Y u z y k | jerome(at)supernet.ab.ca - - BRIDGE Scientific Services | www.tgx.com/bridge - - Sunbeam Alpine Series II #9118636 | www.tgx.com/bridge/sunbeam - - I'm going to SUNI III... Are You? | www.newsource.net/suni3 -
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