Brightening old tired metal

How do you brighten old metal

for example if i have a machined finished that has just gotten old ,dull,not shiny as it would have been when originally machined

I know polish and wire wool is no good as it removes metal is pickling the answer?

Strictly i would expect any 'brightening' to remove material. The dull surface is typically an oxide layer, where metal has been oxidised. Making it shiny usually involves removing it, thus, loss of metal. but to all intents and purposes the metal has been lost already. polish isnt going to remove much.

of course, it will oxidise again eventually, possibly sooner rather than later, unless you coat it with something. But if you are worried about loss of metal from polishing, building up with a clear coat will be even more significant.

-russ

My first port of call is to leave the parts in a plastic container into which I've emptied the teapot (complete with used teabags) and leave it submerged overnight. A wipe down with a green plastic pot scourer the next day will brighten it up without doing too much damage. You can repeat this until the rust is all gone. It does tend to turn your hands a bit black - but there's nothing else too nasty involved - and being "careful" by nature, it is also very cheap to do.

This is a cosmetic process of course and will not help to restore any 'working' surfaces. It does not repair pitting or replace metal lost through rust.

Regards,

IanT

Brightening = Polishing?

Electrolysis & pickling will leave a dull finish.

Polishing will remove metal, done carefully shouldnt remove too much, you might wish to try a fine "Garryflex" block metal finishing trades use them.

Paul

Edited By _Paul_ on 06/09/2012 08:33:57

Hi Mike

In Australia I use "Ajax" Household bath cleaning powder In other countries you will have to substitute It is not a heavy gritty powder (I guess the best person to ask is SWMBO)......
OK having said that I know I will hear the shrieks of horror among the forum members from here in Melbourne!

The trick is to use it with a wet plastic sponge not a scouring pad, use the sponge with care pressing just enough to get the finish you want. If the part is small a good rinse under the hot tap so that it dries itself quickly with the help of a towel and it is ready to oil to stop rust.

I do use a scotch bright pad with the powder if there is no risk of changing a critical surface dimension.
Also small pieces (2 or 3 cm square) of well worn wet and dry paper in various grades, Used on a finger tip, to get rid of heavy rust patches, or built up machinery grime.

The process is also good to finish off freshly machined pieces It gets off the fine silvery grey bloom. In this case I normally just rub the part all over with wet hands and a little powder. You will be amazed how brighter the part will look. After doing this you will not get a grey stain on a white cloth rubbed on the part.

Cheers
John

Edited By John McNamara on 06/09/2012 09:16:53

Hi John,

Here in the mother country we moved on from scouring powder in the '70s.

I still have nightmares about 'skates on ice' as this video demonstrates:

We now call Jif Cif, for some unfathomable reason, Ajax is long, long gone.

Joey

Hi Mike, What material is it ? Steel, Brass, Alloy, etc ?? and what is it for or off, is it part or all of a machine or model or a complete unit ?

Ajax is still available in the UK.

Mike

Hi there, all,

I understand that, as a rule of thumb, one inch of iron makes thirteen inches of rust.

So iron objects can look very rusty but actually still be recoverable.

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

It is worth noting that some scouring pads are [much] more abrasive than others .... and, for very good reason, are colloquially known as "green scratchy pads"

Scotch-Brite, and similar provide many grades of material <see here>, and it's worth testing your proposed scourer on an unobtrusive area, first. ... The damage wrought by a heavy-duty scourer, used cross-wise on "brushed stainless steel" is astonishing.

For lightly-tarnished metals, a non-scratch scourer [or a worn-out general purpose one] makes an excellent applicator for "Autosol" metal polish. [readily available from car-accessory shops in the U.K.]

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 07/09/2012 07:14:24