deskthority

Hey guys, I'm working on restoring my first model F XT, and having a lot of fun doing it. I've cleaned the case, keycaps, barrels and flippers, and they're all in great condition. Luckily the foam was in good shape too. The barrel plate was a bit rusty, so I soaked it in vinegar, sanded it and painted with rustoleum hammered black.
I have a couple of questions though. There's some corrosion on the back plate, and I was wondering whether there's any way to treat the rust spots without sanding the entire plate? I love the original finish, and was hoping to keep it mostly intact if possible.
Also, the badge is looking a bit worse for wear. Is there any way I might be able to buff/polish/sand it back to life without damaging the logo, or is it beyond repair?
Thanks!

The back plate looks ok to me its just surface rust, if the spots worry you just get some rust converter and treat just that area.

As for the badge i cannot tell from the photo if its scratched or that's something on the surface, the problem your going to have with that is that the logo and text are printed ontop of the metal surface.

If its just crap ontop off it you could try some googone or sticky stuff remover.

Thanks Andrew. Yeah, it's hard to tell from the photo, but I'm pretty sure they are scratches. Moving it around under a light, they're shinier than the rest of the badge if light catches them at the right angle.

I'm not sure why this happens to these badges sometimes. Perhaps some sort of reaction with the aluminum. You might try sourcing a replacement or having one reproduced.

Thanks JP, I'll keep an eye out for a replacement badge.

Thanks for useful information!

New badge, thanks to samuelcable. Looking much better now! I've been using this as my main keyboard for a couple of weeks now, and really love the sound & feel of it. I'm still getting used to the layout, and I've tried swapping back to the model M a couple of times, but the XT always seems to end up back on my desk after an hour or two.