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I have been turning ferrules and reel seat hardware for a couple of years now and was always puzzled regarding methods to obtain a really fine final polish the hardware (especially reel seat hardware). Thoroughly searched the listserv archives and the tips web site to little avail. Tried Micro Mesh (works rather well) and even polishing tumblers. Finally (obviously in my sheer ignorance) about six months ago I resorted to buffing/polishing wheels and haven't looked back since. Have obtained most excellent results. (Jaz)
Does anyone know of a good do it yourself method of removing tarnish from NS components? I'm looking for a home made remedy. (Jim Lowe) If you’re looking for an absolute mirror-bright finish then a good silver polish will do. I usually use 0000 steel wool which leaves the finish ever so slightly matte but that’s what I prefer. (Al Baldauski) 1 C. whole milk That's for soaking silver... overnight, not something you'd do with components on the rod. If you increase the acidic content, you can soak for a shorter time period. Rinse and dry immediately. You can purchase a silver rouge cloth at most silversmith or jewelry shops for a couple dollars... add a small amount of elbow grease and it's done. (Mike St. Clair) Actually, the components aren't on the rod. Some of you might remember my lathe fiasco earlier this year. Well, I was never able to salvage the entire seat and NS tarnished from all the heat. (Jim Lowe) Jim, I knocked the tarnish off an old Granger reel seat recently when magic wadding polish couldn't remove some spotting. I used my Dremel with a fine felt buffing tip and Metal Glo and it cleaned up very nicely and even removed years of fine scratches and swirls. It shines like it was new again. (Scott Bearden) If you changed the color of the nickel silver with heat would that be tarnish? Maybe you changed the color of the seat permenantly. (Timothy Troester) I'm not sure. It wasn't a flame, so the NS hasn't been scorched in anyway. The seat was in a plastic bag and I did the boil- dump in ice, boil- dump in ice thing to remove it from the cane. IT DIDN'T COME OFF so I guess I'm using some good epoxy or I fit my seats too tightly. (Jim Lowe) Most likely it IS tarnish. The heat just accelerated the oxidization of the NS. (Mark Shamburg) Two things to try. Vinegar and salt, or catsup. I recently found a copper and brass spittoon at a garage sale for one of my sons. It was tarnished badly. Looking on the web I found suggestions for both of those methods. I tried both and they work about the same. The spittoon wasn't shiny bright but it was a lot better and he was excited about it. (Dick Fuhrman) That reminds me that Taco Bell hot sauce in the little packets will clean just about any metal. Had a friend show me that trick on a penny that was all green, brown and black. He let it sit on there for about 30 seconds and wiped it clean. Looked like it was freshly minted. If it does that to metal I wonder if it has been burning a hole in my gut all these years? (Scott Bearden) I've used a polishing product called Semichrome and tee-shirt and gently removed tarnish from the O.D. of female ferrules. I left the I.D. of the female and O.D. of the males alone as they fit well, even with some discoloration. (Jeremy Gubbins)
I am looking to polish my NS hardware once my rods are complete. All polishes I have found require rinsing with water and I 'd prefer not to rinse if I don't have to. (John Smith) I like the Simichrome polish, it works better for me than other brands I’ve bought from the big box stores or autobody shop. It comes in tubes or cans. Goldenwitch sells the tubes, or you can get it off of Amazon or any number of retailers online. It does a great job of polishing, not too gritty, and a little goes a long way. I bought a tube from Goldenwitch probably 5 years ago and I still have half a tube left and I’ve used it on a lot of different metals. (Tom Vagell)
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