I am currently restoring a Tasma Baby 1001, all has gone well but the case is in need of some work.
It appears as if the case was originally painted, as the underside and the knob holes have the remains of cream paint, the rest of the case is brown but there are slight scratches that appears as if someone has stripped off a painted surface. I am not sure if Tasma painted some sets or if this has been done by a previous owner at some stage. Does anyone know if some of these cases were painted?

Im pretty sure they were not painted.

I am also working on a Tasma 1001, but with an interesting cabinet variation.
At first look, it is a common brown bakelite, but after a wash, the inside and the bottom of the cabinet is the mottled dark green with black traces as shown in "Radio Days" (Peter Sheridan / Ritchie Singer), on page 112.
The outside surface of the cabinet is brown and does not look like paint, unless someone was very skilful to get the streaking to match the bakelite appearance. I suspect the original colour didn't pass inspection and the cabinet was somehow treated to make it look like a brown bakelite.
Would it be possible to put it back in the mould and get a thin layer of brown bakelite to cover the green?
I am reluctant to use a buff in case it is paint so will probably just use Brasso to clean it up.
Harold

I suspect a previous owner had painted the case, you can tell someone has then gone ahead and stripped the paint off. The Bakelite appearance is not the best. Not sure if this is due to excessive sanding after stripping paint, or if this was in fact factory painting of cases that didn't meet spec. I am not sure weather to sand to try to get down to a better finish or not. If it was originally painted then I should keep it original.

I am not aware of a time that these cabinets were painted. This was limited to a few manufacturers. Kriesler did it and Philips did too with one or two receivers. If sanding has been too heavy not all hope would be lost, it just depends on how heavy. Any sanding will remove the original glossy shine but it can be restored in many cases, all of which require hard yakka.

Final sanding should be done with wet-n-dry sandpaper of a very fine grit and the sandpaper should be wet to make the surface smoother and make the sandpaper last longer. After the cabinet is rinsed and dried it should be buffed back to shine with Kitten (or similar) car polish followed by a spray of furniture polish, Mr Sheen, etc and one of those yellow polishing cloths.

If the previous sanding damage is too great then painting may be the only option.

One other issue that needs to be considered is the type of Bakelite the cabinet is made of. Black, brown and burgundy cabinets are generally made of phenol Bakelite. This material contains the colour pigment and formaldehyde plus filler material which can be sawdust and/or asbestos. Coloured Bakelite such as red, blue, green, white, orange and yellow, are made of urea Bakelite. Urea is generally easier to bring back to a shine because it does not contain the filler materials but it is also physically weaker and extra care must be taken, especially if the cabinet material is mottled or contains more than one colour.

Thanks Brad for the info,

I plan to go ahead and try to restore the original Bakelite finish as best I can. This wont be easy considering the groves in the sides of this case. Painting is a last resort if I cant' get any finish back. I guess I would have to sand back a little of the sheen if I decided to paint.

If I have to paint the case what would be the best type of paint to use on Bakelite?

Hmm, I am not sure to be honest as I am not trade qualified in that area. On one hand full gloss enamel will give the best finish and protection but is a pain to prepare, thin correctly for spraying and clean up is also a nightmare as everything used has to be rinsed in turps thoroughly. On the other, gloss acrylic will go on just as well and everything rinses in water but on many surfaces acrylic just scratches off with the lightest touch.

Brushing on isn't an option - the stroke pattern will not disappear entirely and the thickness of the coat will vary too much.

There are numerous articles on restoration of bakelite on the web, including this video clip which covers examples of painted bakelite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5ezGXM4ZT4

I was thinking aerosol enamel, so long as I can get a finish as close to original as possible without looking like it has been painted. I am about to tackle the wet and dry sanding process tonight so hopefully wont need to paint and keep it original if it comes up alright.

Thanks GTC,

Interesting videos,

Proves it can be done with a good result.

Wow it seems I hit the nail on the head using WD40 on my chassis.

Moved to https://vintage-radio.com.au/default.asp?f=1&th=864.