How to restore leaf switch buttons

mgreen

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Donor 2012
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Do you have a control panel with old leaf switch buttons that look like this and new mint ones are hard to find if not hard to find really clean for a restore? These are from a jungle king CP. I recommend that you test the shaft on your buttons first to make sure that the results are similar to this thread.
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Well I am about to save you a ton of money and make your games look amazing!
 
Step 1 use a Mr Clean Eraser

Step 1 use a Mr Clean Eraser to see if this is sufficient to restore the buttons. In this case it was not as you can see below.

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Step 2 sand with drill

So there is a lot tto cover on this topic

1) Only use the roughest sand paper possible. Only 2 buttons required 22 grit paper all else were 400 grit

2) Use progressive sand paper for best results: 220 - 400 - 600- 800 - 1000

3) Use wet sanding for your buttons to reduce the amount of material removed and it seems to clean the gunk as you are sanding too

4) Since the plunger sees the most abuse and will be the worst part dissasemble the button and using a chuckless variable speed drill GENTLY insert at least 1/4" in the drill and tighten only enough to grip the plunger; be careful to not use too much speed in the sanding step

5) Only use the lowest grit paper to remove nicks, burrs, or dirt from the button.

6) Use higher grade paper to help smooth out the button and prepare it for buffing.
 
Step 2 sanding

Step sanding

Hand sand the bottom button piece and use the drill to sand down the plunger

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Step 2 results

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Step 4 use drill and Novex to final buff and polish the buttons

Using Novex 3 then 2 then 1 buff the button plunger and bottom

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Now do the same for your carriage bolts

Use some vinyl tape like electrical tap and tape the threds to protect them

Insert the bolts into the drill and repeat the process above

This time add in a step to use brasso or some other metal polish
 
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Joystick restore

Next pull the joystick and ball from the control panel

Insert the bottom of the stick into the drill and repeat the same process for the carriage bolts on the visible part of the metal on the stick

Then using novus polish the ball on the stick
 
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It's really hard to get a good photo of just how much this shines. It cost me nothing to restore this panel. I do have a new overlay from Rich at thisoldgame but I am going to wait until I get the rest of the machine restored before putting it on.

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Then go get a manicure! ;)

Nice job...


I know my nails were super long and it is a little embarassing. I cut them this morning after seeing just how long they were while looking at the photos last night.

:lmao:
 
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