Restored Buttons on my Donkey Kong

Tighe

Well-known member
Joined
May 25, 2009
Messages
20,797
Reaction score
825
Location
Richmondville, New York
They came out really good. I did the same thing I did when I cleaned up those Wicos with the Perfect 360 optical sensors.

Here is what the buttons looked like in the beginning:

attachment.php


And restored:
 
replace the plexi with glass imo.

lookng good meguiars is good stuff unlike mark the ball player lol
 
regardless imo Glass > Plexi.

Only thing you have to worry about is cracking or smashing it, once the money's right i'm replacing all of my machines plexi with glass.
 
was thinking of using my random orbital polisher on my pac buttons....definitely gonna give it a go tonight. looks good man!
 
NERDtendo asked me to polish up his DK buttons. His were MUCH worse than mine, and there were cigarette burns one a few that were very deep therefore unremoveable.

What he sent me:
IMG_20110913_220238.jpg


I left them in Retr0bright for several days, but I think that the plastic is not ABS so it didn't work as well, but the blue buttons are not green anymore:

IMG_20110920_232045.jpg


Next, I spun them in my drill and used a Scotch Bright pad on them to remove the white on the surface:

IMG_20110921_002633.jpg


Finally, With the button parts in the drill I used 800 grit wet sandpaper, then 2000, then Turtlewax rubbing compound, and finally Meguiars cleaner wax. I have them all done but for 3 plungers before the battery on my drill died.

IMG_20110921_075100.jpg
 
the orange looks great, blue looks better than it was. any negative effects?
 
the orange looks great, blue looks better than it was. any negative effects?

Not really, I didn't buy the 30% Hydrogen peroxide, I used regular 3% and made a bath instead of peroxide and oxyclean. The reaction was slow, I put the container of buttons and my modified Retr0bright recipe in the microwave for about 3 minutes to accelerate the reaction. It really did, then I let it sit for a few days in the sun. It left white on the surface -- which came off with the Scotchbright pad -- but I suspect because the plastic is probably not ABS and probably PVC. It was most effective on the blue buttons, it is hard to tell in the photo, but they were green when I got them. They are all now blue, although some are a little more purple. These buttons were really bad to begin with.

Nice work bro. Those turned out great!

JJ

Thanks, my buttons were a billion times nicer to begin with than the ones that NERDtendo sent me.
 
I take novus to ALL of my old buttons now when I'm restoring a CP. I've probably done 10 or so. It generally takes me about 15 minutes per button unless there are some deeper scratches I want to work on.
 
I did another set for NERDtendo, and really came out so much better with this extra strength (30% hydrogen peroxide) Retr0bright I made. I wish I took before photos, the difference is like night and day! The blue buttons were green. I didn't have to do a ton of polishing, as the retr0bright took out all the staining, I just put on a nice shine.

IMG_20111218_151015.jpg


IMG_20111218_150959.jpg


IMG_20111218_122617.jpg
 
What's the formula for the Retr0bright and peroxide?

Here is the actual formula, they suggest you make a paste. I found it is just as easy with small parts like buttons to just pour higher than they suggest 30% hydrogen peroxide and a scoop of oxiclean in a glass container so that it covers the buttons. I got the peroxide at Sally Beauty supply, I think it was like $5-10 a bottle. One bottle was enough for the batch of buttons you see and a SNES mouse.

Here is a before of the mouse, I need to take an after picture:

IMG_20111030_123955.jpg
 
Ah, restored OEM buttons. So pretty. Nice job man!

Probably not noticeable to the average person, but for someone who plays DK often, the original buttons feel much better than Mike's repro buttons. They have a bit more spring to them and sit taller. Or I could just be imagining things. :)

dsc0020kk.jpg


dsc0021wg.jpg


dsc0022vf.jpg
 
I did another set for NERDtendo...I wish I took before photos, the difference is like night and day!


Here is a picture of the Control Panel lot that the buttons came off of for your before picture...

DKCPLOTFRONT.jpg


I was only able to save the buttons and 1 DK CPO from the whole lot. Everything else had rotted to pieces. Check out the underside of those CPs...

DKCPLOTBACK.jpg



The buttons look great Tighe. I really appreciate you doing this for me again.
 
Back
Top Bottom