removing tarnish from scales, protractors etc. etc.

swatson144

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I've acquired some antique tooling in the form of scales protractors etc. All have a hundred or so years of "patina" on them and I have some scales with 30yrs of patina. The stuff I want to use I need to remove the tarnish so I can see the markings better. The stuff I bought because it was neat I'll just leave alone.

I did some searching and found that several people were using some form of abrasive. I'm not so worried about removing the markings and japanning as the mat anti-glare finish getting more shiny. The markings would take forever to remove with 600G but the older tools you can see the shine in places just from handling/use.

I found a "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser" in the wife's cleaning supplies and decided to give it a try. Woot it works pretty dogone good. It won't remove paint or epoxy finger prints etc but pretty much erases tarnish. when you start the stark white sponge gets filthy but when the tarnish is removed switching to a clean section of the sponge and continuing to scrub leaves it white which I take is indicative of not removing any metal. So no worries about the matt finish.

cleaning.JPG
It actually looked a lot worse in person! Just a couple seconds worth of light rubbing.

Don't try to use it on the edge until you are done with the flats! The edge cuts the sponge like a razor blade. In fact so razor blade-ish that when I discovered that fact I had to look to make sure I didn't have a nasty cut on my fingers.

Steve

cleaning.JPG
 
Amazing what can be found in "the wife's tool chest" ;)

Any more good tips ? Brillo scouring pads work amazingly well for certain things also.

:tiphat:
 
00 or 000 steel wool will work miracles. I use the triple ought to polish stainless welds and it doesnt leave scratches or swirls. A mildly abrasive pencil eraser will also work well on heavily discolored areas followed by the steel wool. just polishes tool steel and stainless really good without any damage to inlays or lettering/marks by the maker. Hope this helps get ya going, now I have to polish the vintage drafting tools I got from Ebay the other night. They came from Germany before WWII and have been in an attic for a long long time. Better get myself to work.
Bob
 
Try some Superior Abrasives Shur-Brite. It is a non-woven abrasive wool. I use the fine (gray) grade. Got it from KBC Tools.
 
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