Thread: Steel wool?

Is steel wool ok for polishing a stained blade?

If not what should I use?


probably a dumb question but thought i'd ask.

Mike I.

Most members use mass or flitz polishing cream and elbow grease, or a dremmel for polishing.

If it doesn't come of with paste then you have to start looking at sanding using wet/dry sandpaper at really high grits (depending on the stain) or lower grit paper for pitting.

There is loads of info in this restoration section. Do a search on maas and you'll have lots of reading to do.

If its just staining and there is no corrosion you can try any of the regular creams like maas, flitz, simichrome. Personally I'm partial to cape Cod Polishing Cloths. I can do almost as good a job with those as I can with a dremmel it just takes longer and they have abrasive in them which the creams really don't. If there is pitting or corrosion you will need to do either sanding or use a power appliance like a dremmel.

I abandoned my steel wool crusade and bought 400, 600 and 1500 grit sand paper along with a tube of PEEK (I assume it's like MAAS). All the stains came off really easily and have discovered a few pits, once again no problem going through them.
However there are some pits right on the cutting edge of the blade on the front side. How careful do i have to be around the company etching with sand paper?

Once again your help is greatly appreciated!
Mike I.

It all depends on the depth of the etching and the depth of the pitting. AND if you want to keep the etching...

One thing that is important to remember is that you should use the finest grade of grit you can get away with, I start with 1500 grit wet&dry and only go to a more coarse grit if the marks are not budging.
I never use anything below 600, be patient even using 1500+ grits the marks will come out EVENTUALLY.

Thanks guys
I have one blade cleaned up and the second on the way

hope to have pics up soon

thanks
mike