Thread: Dremel and MAAS...

OK, sitting down with dremel on absolute lowest speed, a new felt wheel and some MAAS to try and get rid of some spotting -

After running the dremel a bit, I stopped to check my progress and after wiping the MAAS off well I notice something I don't think was there before - some very fine lines, every 64th of an inch down the blade in the direction of the felt rotation ?

Only thing I can think of is that the screw is somehow making contact with the blade and leaving these scratches? Even with a flex shaft, it is still impossible to have the felt perpendicular to the blade, and so with the angle of the dremel to the blade it is possible I guess for there to be some contact but I find it highly unlikely? Anyone else had this problem?

Also, my MAAS use creates a kind of "haze" on the blade and not a mirror finish? What could be causing this? I have used it extensively n other blades, but n this particular one, the hazing is pretty obvious. Anything finer to get rid of the haze? I haven't wanted to use 2000 grit, but is that my only choice?

K

MAAS, Brasso, Flitz, etc... work pretty much the same way.

1.) apply onto surface of blade or scales with fingers, rag, whatever.....

2.) ALLOW to dry thoroughly... 10 -15 minutes...

This allows the stuff to adhere to the top surface of the stain, crud, patina, rust, corrosion, etc...

3.) Then buff off by hand with a buffing cloth, or real slow with dremel...until you see shine!

The polish also contains a slighly abrasive material that also helps to shine the blade or scales....

If the layer of crud, patina, rust, corrosion, is really thick you may have to do this several times...

As you remove one layer of crud, another layer may be revealed underneath...

I keep going until I reach bare metal...

If there wasn't any bad rust, the blade should look really cherry minty after 5 or 6 applications...

If the rust was bad, I will I will then usually see the pitting and scratches that were underneath etc... which will then need to be sanded & or buffed out with other dremel tools....

Hope this helps...

Tony

OK, I haven't had the patience to let the MAAS dry, maybe that is a large problem..what if you have an etched blade?

The one I am doing is actually a reverse etch, meaning that the letters and design are high polish steel, and the rest of the blade is etched satin on one side - it is very pretty BUT - the corrosion (spots) that I would like to remove are mostly on the *etched* area - what the hell do I do with that?

(I get myself into the most outlandish problems, don't I?)

K

i have been using MAAS and PEAK, both are roughly the same , but it says on the tube not to allow it to dry,with the earlier explanation obviously you can let it dry.

If I get hazing i usually just use a little more effort....so you can let the maas dry then?

so am i right in saying that?
Let me know......cheers,simon

I hereby disclaim that I am not a honemeister, restoration meister, or any other kind of meister -

BUT, I tried the MAAS dry, and what I think was nice about it was that I didn't flick the wet MAAS up into my face with the Dremel - I really wish that these cheapie Dremels allowed you to change the rotation of the spin - inevitably (using the right hand) I am throwing crap up into my face -

The dry MAAS allowed the whole ordeal to be much less messy, and if you just put on a thin even layer, it dries very fast. You might need to keep reloading the felt, but all in all it works well - The problem that I was having with scratching I think I figured out too - You see on those half inch felt wheels (Dremel and bulk widget supply) they tend to get eaten up in a conical fashion as you use them, due to the fact that even with a flex attachment, you cannot hold then even with the blade - I think what was happening was that the screw in the top of the felt was intermittently coming in contact with the blade, and leaving hairline perpendicular scratches in the razor as I was going across the blade - very very annoying. I am not absolute on this theory mind you, but when I went to a one inch felt (where the touching was not possible), I have not had the problem since - so that is the result of my little experimentation for the weekend - YMMV.

Dry works, thin layer, ready to go.

K

Are you sure that these scratches were not the grinding marks? Maybe you couldn't see them before because they were hidden by the crud, and the MAAS just took the crud away and left the finish of the blade behind?

Dunno - I have similar markes on several of my blades, and I chalked them up to the marks from the grind made during the manufacturing process.

Si

No, I am not real sure that these weren't grind marks but here is what makes me think I inflicted them...

-They are on several different blades that I have worked on, all different makes.
-The scratches are uniform and bright, and part form each other - like skips across the blade, and are not the full length (spine to edge)
-All grind marks that I have seen are much closer together, and not very bright - creating a pattern which goes the length of the blade, when you can see them - these marks are only in maybe a two inch area, 1/32 apart and maybe half 1/4" long...
-Lastly, none of these razors had that much crud on them - I had already MAAS's them once to get as much corrosion off as possible, so the basic crap was off the blade and they shone quite nicely?

That is why I am thinking I did this - they are hard little buggers to buff out too..

K

I cannot speak about the Dremel issue (since I do not have one), but I find that allowing MAAS to dry for 15 minutes works the best for me. Also, I usually spend a good 5 minutes wiping it off and buffing with a cloth. When I did not allow the MAAS to dry, It was too gummy to work with.