Thread: frosted etch polish

here is an example of a frosted etch on a blade, if I want to polish it so the lettering stands out more, would my best bet be to use a tumbler? because Maas and Flitz are a little abrasive?

A tumbler will be just as abrasive as any polish, if not more so. There are two polishes advertised as being non abrasive. They are MASS and Blue Magic. I have had great luck with both.

do i need to be non-entusiastic when using Maas , or anything that may be out of the norm?
when i use Maas on a "clean"(satin if not shinny blade ) razor, the rag still turns gray/black from use , and, I assume something is being removed or causing the color change to the rag.

That's normal with MASS. I think that is the impurities being pulled out. I had a similar frost etched blade that I used MASS on and had no issues. I find that when using Mass it seems to work best to use a vigorous rubbing to build up a little "heat". You will start to see the black you mentioned. Keep going until it does seem like any more is changing on the rag or the blade. At that point apply more Mass or get a clean chunk of rag and buff the metal to a high shine.

The black on a cloth when using polishing paste is metal removed by the very fine grit in the paste. I've tried it on a frosted blade and it only took about four wipes to start to lose definition in the etch.

Well MASS and Blue Magic are touted to be non-abrasive. I have only used one tube of MASS but quite a bit of the Blue Magic. I have buffed up two or three frosted etches with the blue magic so far and no issues yet. In the end you have to decide what you are willing to risk. Maybe save the experiment for a busted up blade you find to play with. Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

Matt

Originally Posted by MattCB

Well MASS and Blue Magic are touted to be non-abrasive. I have only used one tube of MASS but quite a bit of the Blue Magic. I have buffed up two or three frosted etches with the blue magic so far and no issues yet. In the end you have to decide what you are willing to risk. Maybe save the experiment for a busted up blade you find to play with. Best of luck and let us know how it goes.

Matt

Yes, if I wanted to try it, Blue Magic would be my choice. While I find it abrasive - removing very fine scratches and leaving black metal residue on your cloth - it is far milder than most. I've used it to the point where it almost stopped leaving black on the cloth then tried Mother's afterwards and it was like starting fresh, leaving dark black residue on the cloth.