I ran a brief test today.
I compared Magnolia Glayzit to Brasso on an old Bakelite case.

I assume they recommend steel wool? That seems like an odd choice.

Hi,
It seems like what you may have actually demonstrated here is the efficacy of using a very fine polishing abrasive like Brasso versus a relatively coarse abrasive (or none at all) like steel wool.

73, Charles

Now go back and try Kiwi on the dull side.

The Brasso looks better because even though the steel wool was 0000 it still is coarser then the polish in Brasso.

(Has anyone notices the 'new' Brasso seems more gritty then when it came in the metal can?)

I can't see using wool on somethng that's supposed to be a glossy finish.

The Glayzit finish (no steel wool)actually looked duller compared to the 'before' finish.

Mike's idea of Kiwi would add color to an otherwise mottled, faded finish, making it more uniform in color. I have used the Brasso with Kiwi on those shiny but faded sets.


Thanks for the comparison so far, will wait to see other results.
It will still boil down to a personal preference.

The only reason I tried 0000 steel wool at all... was because of what a fine glossy surface it produces when ever I use it to buff out my last coats of Lacquer on wood surfaces that come out looking like glass.

But in fact the 0000 steel wool didn't seem to effect the hard Bakelite at all. The Glayzit w/steel wool test area looks identical to the Glayzit area with no abrasive.

Kiwi shoe polish is great stuff!.. However it is in the end merely colored-wax right?

So I guess if you want to make an old Bakelite case "look" shiny and move it out the door for a quick Eby sale or what ever.. then I'll bet Kiwi would be best. Not much labor and a great-looking result.

However I guess it depends on the view point of spit-shining cover-up vs repairing the old surface.

If you want to actually eliminate the basic cause of the dull-ness ( the rough surface) then a rubbing compound or Brasso is the choice because it brings the surface back down to one smooth homogeneous texture... such that light will not get deflected or trapped in the rough texture and will in fact reflect in a glossy-like manner.


And yes wax of any sort will give a shine to a scratched or textured surface as it works to fill in the minute surface deviations and harden to create a new smooth surface the light reflects from evenly to look glossy.

Wax will, for instance "repair" scratched plexi-glass for the same reason... but it in itself has not smoothed down the actual rough surface but only masked it.

Using Brasso or a rubbing compound on worn Bakelite is superior I believe because the Brasso acts like a rubbing compound to knock down that slight dull finish off and "polish" the surface down to a glass like smoothness.

.....After which a wax or Kiwi wax or even Glayzit would then perhaps add to enhance the shine with its silicon ingredients ..

deleted because the accompanying photos are lonnnnng gone.

Hmmm, "diminishing abrasive technology", sounds like a brittle abrasive that breaks into finer particles or loses its sharp edges as it is rubbed into the finish. I believe that was the theory behind garnet paper for wood finishing, but it's not much used any more.

Just for comparison purposes try some plain white toothpaste such as Colgate. It contains an extremely fine polishing compound that I think is even finer than Brasso.

I've never heard of using toothpaste, that's interesting, I've got to try that

Raven

Well... yes toothpase is a mild abrasive... maybe a little too fine for the cruddy old Bakelite but ... whatever..
I know that years ago hams would use toothpaste on crystals to raise the frequency a tad....
I tried it once in my early ham days... but never noticed any change in freq. Perhaps because the change was so very slight.

I have also used Bon Ami cleanser on Bakelite .... with minimal results.
It was a year or so ago when I first started with these old radios and I think I was expecting "instant" results and a shinny new look. But I guess if I were to try it again now... I'd just try to make a paste and rub it in well all over... then polish.... But why bother... because i could just as easily used auto rubbing compound and achieve the same results.
And a final Brasso-ing to finish it off.

I wonder if Brasso would make WORLD BREAKING NEWS look better, or just gloss over it?

I think that you should buffit hard with some #60 grit and then poor Varithane over it, put it in a Fat Rate box and never open it again.

I used Metal Armor on a Blaupunkt bakelite cabinet using a micro-fiber cloth and the result was a mirror shine. Brasso and Glayzit don't even come remotely close to the MA.

The $25 cost is truly worth it. You won't be sorry.

I'm always open to a new idea. Never heard of Metal Armor till now and just had to make the effort to go look it up.
So someone else won't have to, here's the link: http://www.metalarmor.net/
Think I'll add a bottle to my shelf of polishing agents, Brasso is still my all time favorite for dull Bakelite matarial.
I believer that Bakelite is often misunderstood. The smooth shine comes form the thin layer of phenolic that was in contact with the die when it was cast, this is very much like the surface finish of old enamel paint jobs. The new two part paint systems that are used on cars today looks close to that of old enamel. Once you break thru that glass like surface you never get the high gloss that they originally had. Brasso chemically and mechanically removes the oxidized surface from Bakelite and the abrasives lightly buff the surface but to get the original gloss you have to recoat the surface with something, like clear paint finish, or a good coat of polish that contains a hard carnauba wax. To those that say that wax doesn’t last, well, the original finish on the Bakelite didn’t last either, other wise we wouldn’t be going thru this exercise.
And all of this depends on what you expect your radio to look like when you finish with it. The satin finish appeals to some and some like the hand rubbed sheen of a lacquer job yet others would rather have the wet look of an enamel job.
What did all this stuff look like sitting in the radio store window back in the 30’s or 40’s? I don’t thing there is anyone that can truthfully say. On rare occasions we run across a Bakelite object that was boxed up and kept clean and dry. They did have a high gloss compared to a lacquer job but they were not at all like the wet look paint we see now days.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
Thought about ordering from: http://www.metalarmor.net/
Metal Armor Precision Metal Polish @ $19.95 or the Metal Armor Paint and Hard Surface Polish, @ 21.50 or the Metal Armor Final Polish & Sealant @ $20.95. Wow, this is getting expensive, think I’ll just stick to my Brasso and Johnson’s wax!

Nice of someone to spam an interesting three-year old thread and actually resurrect it.

Bob

To see what the original Bakelite gloss finish looked like you can usually find it under the paint IF it was painted white by the factory.

Almost all Bakelite radios back then were plain glossy brown but some were optionally painted white at the factory.

When I get one with that original factory-white paint.. it comes off quite easily with Easy-Off oven cleaner (Blue Can) with lemon scent.

Under that old white paint the glossy shine has usually been preserved and protected.

Quite stunning.

Why doesn,t someone e mail this Meatalarmor and see what they have to say about using there product on Bakelite? Also witch product do they think would be better. I would but i get some kind of garbage about a default
Stan Ski

Tsk tsk.. such spelling ....lol
"doesn,t or doesn't ??
"There"?? or did you mean "their"?
and
"WITCH" ??