Buffing out scratches without ruining brushed finish?

[cayman shen]

I have a Bolsey with a brushed finish, and I want to buff out some scratches. With the shroud I just polised the crap out of it then hit it with some fine steel wool and it looks swanky, but I don't know if I want to go this route on the flash body, because it's a much bigger area and therefore easier to screw up. Any thoughts?

 

[Gigatron]

If the scratches are very shallow (surface scratches), you can use some Mother's mag/aluminium polish on a cotton rag. Anything deeper than that though and you're into sandpaper land which could have disasterous results if not careful. If it gets to sandpaper, use 2000+ grit wet/dry under running water with little to no pressure on the flash.

-Fred

 

[TOKI]

I prefer to use Scotch Brite pads to do any work on brushed aluminum. I keep several pads from brand new to very old for different finishes.

I think if you try 2000 grit wet you'll end up with a mirror polish. I only went to 1200 for my noisy cricket and it came out like chrome.

Arthur

 

[cayman shen]

The scratches are so shallow I have to turn the flash in the light so I can see them. Most of them will be covered by the grips, but...I'm compulsive. I like a weathered saber, but by God I want it weathered MY way.

Gigatron--I have something called Metal-Glo that I've had some luck with. It's a basic metal polish. Do you know if Mother's is different in some way? I've heard it mentioned in other threads.

TOKI: A lot of people have mentioned Scotch Brite for various things and I've never tried it. I've been told to use it for the grip rings on my Luke ROTJ saber as well, so I was going to look into it. Is that something I can get in a hardware store?

 

[TOKI]

Go to the supermarket. Look in the section that has household cleaning/dishwashing items. You're looking for the green abrasive pads, sometimes they're attached to the back of a sponge, or just by itself. If you go to the hardware store it's marketed as synthetic steel wool.

I prefer the good old fashioned Scotch Brite. Use it wet and never throw it away. The older pads will give a finer finish, the new pads a courser finish.

Arthur

 

[cayman shen]

OH, I've got jillions of those. Cool. I'll give it a test run on some scrap I have.

 

[Gigatron]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cayman shen @ Jan 17 2007, 01:02 AM) [snapback]1398752[/snapback]</div>

The scratches are so shallow I have to turn the flash in the light so I can see them. Most of them will be covered by the grips, but...I'm compulsive. I like a weathered saber, but by God I want it weathered MY way.

Gigatron--I have something called Metal-Glo that I've had some luck with. It's a basic metal polish. Do you know if Mother's is different in some way? I've heard it mentioned in other threads.

TOKI: A lot of people have mentioned Scotch Brite for various things and I've never tried it. I've been told to use it for the grip rings on my Luke ROTJ saber as well, so I was going to look into it. Is that something I can get in a hardware store?
[/b]

Hey CS, I've never tried metal-glo so I can't accurately compare the two.

I have, however, used Mother's on my original graflex and it took out all the fine scratches and haze without affecting the brushed finish.

Hope that helps some.

-Fred