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Author
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Topic: Can "pitted" chrome be cleaned up?
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Steve Pierce
Member From: San Rafael, California, USA
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posted 11 February 2004 09:45 PM
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Hey there,I was thinking about giving my lap steel a little day of beauty. I have a little bit of what I believe to be pitted chrome on my pick-up cover (it's one of those Oahu-National-Supro pick-ups). Is this something that can only be prevented, or can it actually be cleaned up. What's the trick? ------------------
Steve Pierce |
Bob Stone
Member From: Gainesville, FL, USA
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posted 12 February 2004 06:59 AM
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You can't remove pits. But try some Simichrome polish. It should help a lot. |
Gibson Hartwell
Member From: Missoula, Montana, USA
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posted 12 February 2004 04:17 PM
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#000 or #00 steel wool usually works well to clean up chrome surface rust. Shines it up too. Not much you can do to fix that pitting. |
Roy Ayres
Member From: Starke, Florida, USA
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posted 12 February 2004 04:25 PM
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If the axe really means a lot to you, you may want to invest a few bucks to have the pieces replated. As said above, pitting is the pits. |
Erv Niehaus
Member From: Litchfield, MN, USA
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posted 12 February 2004 05:38 PM
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I have a Gibson Console Grande that has some pitted chrome pieces on it. I plan to take them off and have them rechromed. There are quite a few guys around that chrome motorcycle parts and should be able to handle the job.
Erv |
Denny Turner
Member From: Northshore Oahu, Hawaii USA
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posted 13 February 2004 09:50 AM
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Spray a good dose of WD40 into a large bowl (you DO NOT want to get WD40 on finish or plastic). Dip #0000 steel wool into the WD40 in the bowl and use it to rub out the tarnished pitting. It will not fix the pitting but it will take off tarnish / rust right down to the metal ...which is the best I know can be done short of rechroming.Aloha,
DT~ |
Lawrence Sullivan
Member From: Granite City, Illinois, USA
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posted 13 February 2004 11:51 AM
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BoB if it is a small area and not deeply pitted , there is a product found at auto parts stores and truck stops called Mothers that comes in a small can, and is something like cotton with a cleaning compound in it
Just tear off a small piece and rub the surface with it, then wipe off with a cotton ragGood luck Larry |
Mike D
Member From: Phx, Az
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posted 13 February 2004 08:36 PM
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Just enjoy the pitting as an artifact of it's age and history. Using any abrasive other than metal polish (such as steel wool etc) might remove some of the rust and oxidation, but it's going to scratch and dull the plating too.
There are non-abrasive cleaners like Mothers and also mild abrasive pastes like Simichrome. They will remove some rust and the oxidation while keeping what's still shiny, shiny.------------------
Half-assed bottleneck and lap slide player. Full-assed Builder of resonator instruments.
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Richard Sinkler
Member From: Fremont, California
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posted 14 February 2004 08:54 AM
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I used to work for a plating company. If the pits are in the chrome (I would doubt that is the case - chrome is very hard, but susceptibal to rust and the pitting it causes), then you can have the chrome stripprd off and re-polished and plated. If the pit is in the base metal, it is possible (if the pit isn't too deep) to strip off the chrome and have the company polish the pit out of the base metal and rechrome. I have seen this done hundreds of times. Now if the base metal is a casting, like zinc diecast or any other pourous metal, you will probably not be able to do anything about it. |
Steve Pierce
Member From: San Rafael, California, USA
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posted 14 February 2004 01:28 PM
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Thank you to all for your posts.I just did the WD-40 and the 0000. It did a really nice job. Now what's the trick to preventing this stuff from forming? Much Thanks,
Steve ------------------
Steve Pierce |
Kevin Ruddell
Member From: Toledo Ohio USA
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posted 15 February 2004 02:09 PM
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I just used Gibson's Vintage Restoration Kit to go over a dirty and tarnished 52 Fender D-8 Pro and it worked very well cleaning it up. Three small bottles for metal , fretbard and wood along with two good cloths and a small crevice tool. About $15 |
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