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Topic: Polishing up a brass Elton |
John Bushouse
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Posted 26 Jul 2009 9:38 am |
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I just bought this:
Any ideas on a course of action to get the playing surface very, very smooth? E.g., if it's sandpaper, what grits? Or a polishing cloth/polish?
All thoughts welcome.
Thanks,
John |
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Roger Palmer
From:
Rossendale, UK
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Posted 26 Jul 2009 12:14 pm
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| I would use fine steel wool....something between grade 0 to 000 |
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Jim Konrad
From:
The Great Black Swamp USA
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Posted 26 Jul 2009 5:05 pm
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I would start with 400 grit,then 600, 1200,2000.
Use wet/dry but keep it wet.
Then finish her off with some Mothers wheel polish.
Here is some polishing I just did using those methods
......
Good luck!!
Jim |
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 26 Jul 2009 5:11 pm
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| I use these bars almost exclusively. I have had the good fortune to know Donald Dunlavey and he taught me to use fine sandpaper first to remove the pitting that is common to these bars, and any dents in the play surface first. Then I use a metal polishing wheel with a compound (not sure which one, it's a bar that I press to the wheel) to smooth it out. It is important to get these pretty flat and it is easy to screw up and put indentations on the surface. I am, of course, a bit green when it comes to using this stuff but it works beautifully. I have 2 that I use regularly. I store them in leather business card cases. |
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Denny Turner
From:
Oahu, Hawaii USA
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Posted 28 Jul 2009 9:43 pm
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2 more suggestions:
Be sure that whatever cutting / abrasion medium you use, mount it on a dead flat surface so that no holidays creep into the work; And pay close attention to the original radius of the playing surface.
Another good idea is to have a machine shop take the dents and heavy scratches out of the playing surface while maintaining the original radius. Then you can polish the work, although the machine shop wouldn't charge much at all to add polishing to the job. That way you can get a dead-straight playing surface.
_________________
Aloha,
Denny T~
http://www.dennysguitars.com/
Please help support humanity:
http://www.redcross.org/en/aboutus |
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John Bushouse
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Posted 29 Jul 2009 1:41 pm
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| Good ideas - I have to stop by my local geetar-fixin' shop this weekend, so I'll see if maybe they can give it a quick shine on their polishing wheels. So far the pits haven't been a problem, I'm guessing because they're voids in the material rather than something sticking up. |
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