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Sanded the back of my iPhone 3G

J

johnmatrix

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 6, 2010
6
0
I saw a guide on here a while ago about how to sand down and re-polish the back of your iPhone, I kinda liked the brushed finish it had in the middle of the process so I decided to do it to my phone today. I figured if I ruined it I could always buy a replacement back from eBay, but I think it looks pretty sweet so I'm going to keep it like this.

I also put together a simple guide showing what I did.. it's pretty picture heavy.

How to give your iPhone a brushed finish

15.jpg

17.jpg
 
That's actually not bad...

I apologize in advance for going off-topic here, but would you mind me asking where you're from (what nationality), as well as where and when you bought the 3G depicted in your photos? I only ask because I noticed that the markings on your iPhone omit the FCC and IC ID numbers on the back. Now I realize that Apple is not compelled to print those IDs on products sold outside of the US and Canada, but I'm pretty sure I have seen them on phones bought internationally, and it doesn't make sense to me that Apple would go to the trouble of making two different parts: one with and one without.

Anyway, to get back ON-topic, reading through your description of how you went about it, it sure sounds like you planned ahead and went to a good deal of trouble to get the look that you were after. Do you find that, after the sanding, the plastic back is either harder to scratch, or that micro scratches simply don't show up as easily? (and so you are less worried about it getting scuffed up now?) Since you were only ever sanding in one direction, I wonder if scratches that go "against the grain" are still as visible as before. I guess if it does start looking ragged again, you could simply resand...the markings on the back must not simply be on the surface of the plastic since they didn't get renoved in the process!

-- Nathan
 
NathanA said:
I apologize in advance for going off-topic here, but would you mind me asking where you're from (what nationality), as well as where and when you bought the 3G depicted in your photos? I only ask because I noticed that the markings on your iPhone omit the FCC and IC ID numbers on the back. Now I realize that Apple is not compelled to print those IDs on products sold outside of the US and Canada, but I'm pretty sure I have seen them on phones bought internationally, and it doesn't make sense to me that Apple would go to the trouble of making two different parts: one with and one without.

Anyway, to get back ON-topic, reading through your description of how you went about it, it sure sounds like you planned ahead and went to a good deal of trouble to get the look that you were after. Do you find that, after the sanding, the plastic back is either harder to scratch, or that micro scratches simply don't show up as easily? (and so you are less worried about it getting scuffed up now?) Since you were only ever sanding in one direction, I wonder if scratches that go "against the grain" are still as visible as before. I guess if it does start looking ragged again, you could simply resand...the markings on the back must not simply be on the surface of the plastic since they didn't get renoved in the process!

-- Nathan
Click to expand...

No worries mate (any guesses yet? haha). I'm from Australia, I bought the phone locally too. Comparing to an American iPhone, it seems the little triangle picture is replacing the FCC logo, perhaps that triangle logo is our version of the FCC?

I only did this sanding job today so I can't really say whether it's going to scratch as easily, I will keep you posted though. What I have noticed is that it very easily attracts fingerprints and smudges, and they can be quite hard to rub off. It seems like it has become more porous, that's the best way I can describe it, not sure if it's a good thing yet!
 
Fantastic job!!! It looks really good.

Quick question...can this be done to the back of an iPod Touch to give it a brushed aluminum look?
 
johnmatrix said:
I saw a guide on here a while ago about how to sand down and re-polish the back of your iPhone, I kinda liked the brushed finish it had in the middle of the process so I decided to do it to my phone today. I figured if I ruined it I could always buy a replacement back from eBay, but I think it looks pretty sweet so I'm going to keep it like this.

I also put together a simple guide showing what I did.. it's pretty picture heavy.

How to give your iPhone a brushed finish

15.jpg

17.jpg
Click to expand...
When I saw the title of this thread, I thought, "Oh S**t, what's this guy done"!

But then after seeing the pics your iPhone looks sick! Nice job!
 
Thanks for the comments guys, glad I'm not the only one who thinks it looks pretty slick!

here's a closeup of the Apple logo too
28849291.jpg
 
Last edited:
Well done looks very good.

Personally I am going to swap to a whit back, I don't think they show scratches as much.
 
You did a damn fine job :D

But can't really say I like the look "Sanded" plastic, it looks unfinished. Sure it might look good in a few pictures but it must look beatup if you hold it the right way, well unless you can find a way to get all the sanding lines 100% parallel.

A better solution would be to have it media blasted to give it a uniform matte finish (would be cool, pretty sure no one has done it yet !)

As a nerd though nothing beats shiny gadgets

glass2.jpg
 
Last edited:
ItsJustafnPhone said:
You did a damn fine job :D

But can't really say I like the look "Sanded" plastic, it looks unfinished. Sure it might look good in a few pictures but it must look beatup if you hold it the right way, well unless you can find a way to get all the sanding lines 100% parallel.

A better solution would be to have it media blasted to give it a uniform matte finish (would be cool, pretty sure no one has done it yet !)
Click to expand...

You must have been the fella that did the thread on restoring the iphone? you did an awesome job on that one... I was considering bringing my phone back to a polished finish and then sanding the Megadeth (my favourite band) logo into it, that would be an interesting effect.
 
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