Blackened or sintered wheels will tumble, but they then need to be re-blackened. It took 100 hours of polishing and looks super.
#Pep boys black magic engine shine series
The late Larry Batley and I worked on a test where we successfully shined some 10 series trucks with 1/8” rust pits. I wrote the article in the TCA Quarterly on tumble use some years ago. It really cheers a piece up to have the wheels shine like they did originally. I use a Lapidary tumble for my tin plate wheels. Then protect the bright work with a wax or Restorzit, etc. If part of the handrail demands work, do the whole thing. Symichrome does a nice job on bright work. Just like this old man, I and the trains have only have so many shines and so much elbow gerease left in us so why dissemble and risk tab failure/loss/etc.? I’m against taking the train apart to clean the bright work. A one ounce push force on the tooth pick results in several hundred pounds pressure/square inch on the contact spot. Be ever so careful when using a wooden tooth pick to dig junk out of corners. Be careful as decals and loose paint jump off under the scrubbing of a hard tooth brush. Lightly, and then more harshly, clean under trim and around the piece. From its official job, it goes thru the dishwasher and to its real job of cleaning trains. In my house we haven’t directly thrown away any old tooth brush, ever. Trim moving around during cleaning can really chew up the paint on a piece. You can brush a little and then blow the dust off. Camera stores have brushes with a bulb attached. Start with a soft brush and work the loose dust and debris off. Don’t start with kerosene, auto gas or alcohol. Start with non-aggressive cleaners and work up in strength. OK, you decide you want to clean the thing. I have a few pieces that I think the providence would change if the patina was cleaned. The next question is why do you want to clean it? It may be the best it can be or so fragile that high tech cleaners of today will only degrade it.
0 kommentar(er)
