Australian Made Bakelite Telephone Restoration: A Step-by-step Guide

[@nauticalknotcraft]

Excellent work! I love the old phones. They're practically indestructible. Built to last. We have one from the 60's. It has never needed repair and the sound quality is perfect.

[@MasterT-n2c]

I love them too, can be a talking piece in the man cave.📞

[@fieqakim]

Awesome restoration

[@MasterT-n2c]

Glad you like it and thank you for commenting.

[@whitesapphire5865]

Australian version of the British GPO type 300 series bakelite telephone. If the Australian version followed the British model, it would be a fairly late issue (late 50s to early 60s). Early 300 series had braided handset and line cords, metal ferrules inset into the handset cradle, chromed metal dial, alpha numeric dial back plate, and a small drawer at the front, to hold a card containing your personal regular phone numbers. On the British phones, the handset is heavier and bulkier. I don't recall seeing your style of handset over here, though that doesn't necessarily mean we didn't have that style. I am curious though, about those holes in the cheeks of the casing (beside the dial). That's a really nice telephone, and restored very nicely - I have a GPO type 312 from 1958 that I want to restore when I get a chance. The 312 is reputed to be the second most sought after version in the UK.

[@MasterT-n2c]

Thank you for your detailed feedback. You know a lot in this subject.🙂👍

[@minime9400]

@@MasterT-n2c Yeah what are those holes, you know? "I am curious though, about those holes in the cheeks of the casing (beside the dial)."

[@3boyz317]

Can you explain what you used to restore the phone surface? What grit sandpaper and buffing brush? Did you use a solution of some kind when you sanded to phone? Thanks!

[@MasterT-n2c]

Thanks for asking; well if you have deep scratches and you really need to sand, do only wet sand, water and sandpaper. I recommend to start with 800 grit and go up to 2000 grit. If you have no deep scratch don’t sand at all! You can do the buffing with any type of buffing pads and the best to use is metal polish. (Autosol metal polish is one of the best) For finishing if you have black coloured Bakelite you can use black shoe polish.

[@redsetterpaul8028]

Good restoration, but dreadful, I use the term with reservation, music!

[@MasterT-n2c]

Thanks.🙂