Original Found OB1 de-weathering question

[mugatu]

Hello,

I just received this package in the mail. As you can see, these parts have sustained decades of natural weathering. Although these were located on a bidet, one positive is that they came with an extra wheel. The inner section is not the same as the "h" or "c" wheel, as the square cutout is larger. It also has a black rubber (?) ring located where the blue or red color ring would be on the "h" or "c" wheels.



Also, the "cap" for this center wheel is metal and has a wing that is attached to a long rod that went deep into the bowels (pardon the expression) of the bidet. Perhaps a good alternative to those apprehensive about drilling a hole in the actual cubes of the wheel: just drill through the wing! Of course, that wouldn't be screen accurate though.

,
,
,
,

My question is what would be the very best non-abrasive/non-corrosive way to de-weather these wheels? I typically don't do any cleaning of parts as the natural state tends to match the screen better, however I am going to make an exception in this case for safety reasons. Although I have to admit these do look like they have a nice patina!

 

[Sym-Cha]

Nice score of handwheels Perhaps ... if you boiled 1 liter water then add a large cup of vinegar ... and put the parts in when the water has become luke warm ... let stay overnight and most of the calcium remains should be gone ... any weathering left is due to age and use

Chaim

 

[mugatu]

Thank you, Master Sym-Cha. I think a good soaking of this sort is best called for.

Follow up question: how does one fully disinfect a Revell cutting may thoroughly without warping it any further than it already is? Do you think one of those disinfectant sprays would seep into the cuts?

 

[teecrooz]

Just remember not to put them in when the water is boiling. It will put bubbles in the chrome plating on the plastic parts.

 

[mugatu]

I would definitely have to let it cool a bit first as I will have to transfer the hot water to some other non-cooking vessel or else I would be murdered.

 

[Sym-Cha]

Here's a 101 of cleaning cutting boards ... perhaps the same can be applied to your Revell cutting matt?

http://www.home-ec101.com/cutting-board-basics/

Again ... I see vinegar ... I prefer natural ingredients whenever

Chaim

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

Yeah, white vinegar for sure.

 

[mugatu]

Excellent. Thank you for your help gentlemen. Post-boiled water with white vinegar.

Would you recommend I take the caps and color rings off first? Separate the actual knob pieces (upper inner, lower inner, cubes) first before putting it in there?
Also, does anyone know if that center bidet knob separates similarly to the other two?

 

[Sym-Cha]

If you seperate them you'll be certain all the surfaces will be evenly cleaned ... I've never seen that third or bidet knob ... so you're on your own ... very interesting to know there's a third option eventhough the cap is different and metal

Chaim

 

[mugatu]

I did a preliminary water and dish soap soak until I could get some white vinegar (I've gotten the vinegar since), and the bidet handle came apart very easily. It goes together just like the other two. These handles appear a lot less worse for the wear than I had expected.

I am finishing the water/vinegar soak now. I will post pics of the outcome.

 

[mugatu]

Okay, second soak is complete...is this what they meant by the phrase "**** and vinegar"?
Anyway, here is how it turned out:




You can really see the outstanding job this did, especially on the copper plunger rod that went with the center wheel.

Here are some close ups of the hot wheel:






Even the color rings had all of the grime removed. Good News: the black ring is the same shape as the other two; Bad News: the blue ring is a bit misshapen from either decades of cleaning chemicals (best case scenario) or this bidet belonged to a Xenomorph family (worst case scenario).



Two big thumbs up for hot water & vinegar solution! Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[Panaflex]

Looking good! Nice job.

 

[Sym-Cha]

Great! So is that rod permanently attached to that endcap with the additional wing? Or could you seperate them and use it with another endcap as part of a rod inside your OB1 ANH lightsaber?

Chaim

 

[mugatu]

Great! So is that rod permanently attached to that endcap with the additional wing? Or could you seperate them and use it with another endcap as part of a rod inside your OB1 ANH lightsaber?

Chaim

Chaim,

The rod and the sail-cap are attached. Although (and I am no expert) upon closer inspection, they look glued together. But the sail-cap is metal, and the rod is copper, so being glued seems unlikely to me. I did see some chromed AS caps for a different style of Handwheel, but they were circular and I was considering getting them to see if they would cover the same size hole as the sail-cap and c & h caps. The non-Starlite chromed caps do not have any embossing or lettering of any kind though.

Actually, I need to doublecheck that. They may not have been AS caps. They didn't have any fingers to hold the cap in place either...they were definitely circular and chrome though!