Please share your Mother-of-All Polishing Regimes

[MsLoathsome]

Bruce, can you please share your Mother-of-All Polishing Regimens for Esties? Thanks.

Edited February 28, 2009 by luciahwang

[OcalaFlGuy]

Bruce, can you please share your Mother-of-All Polishing Regimes for Esties? Thanks.

 

Sure, There's actually an addendum to the original version after I got some Sanding 101 tutelage from

Farmboy. First the addendum then a link to a thread with the original method. Lately thread links

haven't been working in PM's if it doesn't work here, go to the Pictures and Pen Photography forum and look

for a thread started by ngc2632 (as of today it's on page 2 about 1/4 of the way down) entitled. "Some

Estie Eye Candy". Cursor down in the thread til you find my post.

 

Some will probably cringe at this procedure but maybe if he sees this Farmboy will step in and verify

what the final product looks like. He's got a Copper J right now that I've done.

 

The later info;

 

-You need to do whatever it takes to locate the Simichrome used here. Try motorcycle shops or maybe

custom car shops or some auto parts places. It really is non-substitutable so far as I am concerned. If

you can't find it locally, Pendemonium and Richard Binder both have it. (SEE, it MUST BE good if Richard

reccomends it, right?)

 

-That being said, DON'T do like some do and jump right in with the Simichrome first. It just isn't good

for anything other than almost invisible micro-glazing scrathes. It is however, PERFECT for after you've

gotten about 90% of the scratches out with the compound or below. People are often happy with how the

Simichrome does by itself but they are really missing out on what they COULD have with the one additional

step, and that's the difference between night and day.

 

-There IS however a substitute for the compound step but it comes with a couple caveats. You can use

1500 grit oxide wet/dry sandpaper in place of the compound but with a couple of "be carefuls" involved.

You'll need to use the gray wet/dry paper WET with the pieces torn/cut small enough for you to work with

and dipped into water to wet them. It's also not a bad idea to use a wet paper towel to wipe the pen

down before you go sanding on it. The main thing here is Not So Much Water on it or the paper that

you worry about any running down into the fill lever area and getting the j-bar wet as it isn't stainless

steel like the fill lever and will rust! (assuming you don't already have the j-bar out, if you do,

disregard this one caveat.) The sandpaper isn't as much a mess as the red compound and I think it can

take out a little heavier scratches on the pen with less work. If you substitute the sandpaper for the

compound, definately do at least 3 go overs with the Simichrome (1 more than you might get away

with if you use the compound) for The Best results.

 

(You may be wanting to kill me when you see your pen just after the 1500 grit paper (or compound)

step, but Trust Me! and don't start tying that noose until you finish the last two steps.)

 

I will also mention that I've now used 600 grit wet/dry paper too. Then you need to use the 1500

grit AFTER that and then the Simichrome. The 600 grit will take care of all but definant GOUGES.

You'll really only need to use the 600 if your pen is REALLY scratched up.

 

If you have Tru-Value or Ace harware stores near you, those places will sell individual sheets of

different grit papers. The auto parts places also have it but they want you to buy packs of 10 sheets

of so each and you'll never use that much for pens.

 

For the meat of the MOA polish regime, go to this thread and cursor down to my post on it. (Read

the thread and look at my pic there for an idea of what you'll end up with.) With a little time and

effort you'll end up with a TRUE Mirror finish.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=89509

 

Have Fun,

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[MsLoathsome]

Wow. Okay, will attempt to follow this to the letter.

[OcalaFlGuy]

It's not near as involved as it looks.

 

I just want people to know the details before they use it on their pens.

 

Too much info to me trumps not enough.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[AndyH]

Thanks Bruce - I will try it out on the next flea market find! I have never used Simichrome on a pen before, and I've gotten several older pens gleaming with just that treatment. Can't wait for a guinea pig to 'speriment on with the full treatment.

[6pound]

This Simichrome you mention, Bruce, is it the same automotive metal polish as found on Ebay like

 

This?

 

Or is there some other kind of simichrome made for plastics or bakelites?

 

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

This Simichrome you mention, Bruce, is it the same automotive metal polish as found on Ebay like

 

This?

 

Or is there some other kind of simichrome made for plastics or bakelites?

 

That's it.

 

You'd want to be careful using it on any gold plated furniture but there's nothing on a Estie that it'll do

anything to but make it look nicer. (Except that I wouldn't use it on any of the gold plated Estie nibs!)

 

You'll also note that not only does Richard Binder reccomend it, he also carries it on his website.

 

And again, you can probably find it in your area at a motorcycle shop, especially a Harley-Davidson/V-twin

shop or one that does custom work.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

Edited March 3, 2009 by OcalaFlGuy

[6pound]

[OcalaFlGuy]

One more data point.

 

I can report that the 1200 grit paper/Simichrome does just as well on the Midnight Blue barel of a P51.

I suspect the Parker plastic/Lucite(?) may be softer than Estie plastic, the P51 only had some light surface

scratches on it and one go over with wet 1200 paper and one GOOD go over with Simi and it's back to

(better than) brand new. I asked around first and took it easy, (only 2 doses at regular effort, 1 last light

one) and the Simichrome also brought the GF (Not Plated! Simichrome doesn't like plating!) cap from

(in my estimation) probably about an 80% grade (no dings, just surface scratches) to a good 90-95%

grade.

 

wooNhoo!

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[leroy]

Micromesh finest liquid polish (look in their acrylic headlight polishing kit); follow up with Zymol (a fancy car wax-polish). Works like a charm on all esterbrook plastics.

Kind regards,

LEROY

[OcalaFlGuy]

Any micromesh headlight polishing kit and Zymol would costs several times what 2 sheets of sandpaper (or a $3 tin of rubbing compound) and a tube of Simichrome would.

 

The major impetus of me coming up with what I use was to use what was already on hand (the Simichrome and rubbing compound for me) or those that would be available anywhere for not much money.

 

My experience with products designed to remove just the haze from acrylic headlight covers is that isn't sufficient (without hours and hours of use) for anything other than very light scratches. 600 grit oxide paper (at about $1 a sheet, enough for probably 20+ pens) will take care of any scratch short of a genuine gouge.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[leroy]

RE: Micromesh and Zymol. Your exactly right; it WAS around the house. It won't fix a bad pen; it will really liven up a good one. The moral of the story is that plastics (acrylics, celluloids, styrenes (if you are a modeller)) are soft and can be polished to a high luster. Most any quality polishing compound, polishing paper, or polish-wax combination will really polish a pen or anything else made of plastic. Various grits of sandpaper or emery from 220 up will remove bad spots (they will also remove lettering and other identification you may want to keep); they will not polish. You can fill in gouges with several ultra light applications of thick CA (crazyglue -- superglue, fancy hobby glue from the hobby shop; etc -- then sand back down; then polish). You can quibble about 12000 grit polishing; it does a pretty good job. Real polish with ultrafine particles (Semicrome, micromesh polish, ultra fine rubbing compounds, toothpaste, etc) puts the final touch on all polishing operations -- whatever you choose to polish-- it also removes material. The wax stuff (whether it is pen wax, car wax, Zymol, johnson's paste wax, carnumba, etc) will seal the surface, make it shiny, and protect from scratches. I regularly use the micromesh and zymol on all the old esterbrook stuff that comes to my house (including the bakelite tops of dipless sets); it works on all of them. I suspect that any appropriate polish wax combination would do the same.

LEROY

[OcalaFlGuy]

One additional data point specifically regarding using the straight automotive rubbing compound in the original MOA polish regime.

 

I was cleaning up a recently purchased Sheaffer Imperial this afternoon. It just had some light surface scratches on

it. I really didn't want to take even the lighter grit sandpaper to it as I was real concerned about hitting the gold of the

inlaid nib area.

 

And (attention here all ye who were so adversed to my Supreme Nukegloss finish) with this pen just being a dark blue,

there just wasn't really anything to gain by taking it all the way to Nukegloss so I carefully went at it with just

one go round of rubbbing compound. (I think maybe the higher gloss brings out the Esite patterning a bit better but

since there's no patterning on this pen to bring out...) Now, I don't know if the Sheaffer plastic is just softer than the Estie plastic but after just this one go round, it was like new. And for those that just prefer a moderate gloss, that's

exactly where the rubbing compound left this Sheaffer.

 

(Now, I'm sure I could take it pretty quickly to Nukegloss with the Simichrome but with no patterning to bring out

about all that would probably accomplish is to make the pen MORE prone to showing fingerprints. So, I'll pass.)

 

So if you just have some light to moderate surface scratching and want to quickly get rid of them and have the pen

at just a moderate gloss, the rubbing compound IS the way to go!

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

Edited May 7, 2009 by OcalaFlGuy

[Rob G]

Meguiar's paint cleaner to remove dirt, and polish (or Scratch-X) to remove surface scratches and give a bit of gloss. If I want more gloss, I'll hit it with Gold Class wax. Same stuff I carry in the trunk of my car.

[Bo Bo Olson]

First, having no wood working experience, sand paper is sort of frighting...on my pens. Sanding on a car is no problem, one can always back up and do something again.

 

Second US grit levels do not match European/German levels. So I have no idea what matches what in metric.

 

So I should be able to Sand, with micro mesh. Micro mesh lasts a lot longer, and in the end is not more expensive than buying a sheet of sand paper, in that I also want to smooth nibs and I can order all at once.

 

 

 

Here is a list of micro mesh could you please suggest which ones I should buy. Included on the bottom are files.

 

Micro mesh available

 

 

1.500 Körnung (8 x 15 cm)

 

1.800 Körnung (8 x 15 cm)

 

2.400 Körnung (8 x 15 cm)

 

3.200 Körnung (8 x 15 cm)

 

3.600 Körnung (8 x 15 cm)

 

4.000 Körnung (8 x 15 cm)

 

6.000 Körnung (8 x 15 cm)

 

8.000 Körnung (8 x 15 cm)

 

12.000 Körnung (8 x 15 cm)

 

 

 

 

MM Polierfeile (1,2 x 14,5 cm) Files....

1800

3200

6000

12000 Körnung

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

I wouldn't have a clue in the world.

 

I'm sure there's online info on translating US grit spec to Euro grit spec.

 

As I've mentioned before, I have basically NO mechanical skills and there's ample photographic evidence in forums here of the pens I've done and 1st hand eyewitness verification from at least 2 Estie forum members that the sandpaper/rubbing compound and Simichrome for me works most excellently.

 

The WHOLE purpose behind the MOA polish regime was TO AVOID having to re-educate myself on the properties/specs

of micromesh AND having to find some non-local source for my polishing supplies.

 

The appropriate grit paper AND the compound are readily available in most any town in the entire US for a total of

less than $5 and will bring ANY pen I've tried it on so far that doesn't have GOUGES in it up to a nice moderate gloss.

 

Anything else to me is fixing something that isn't broken.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

Delete doubled..

Edited May 9, 2009 by Bo Bo Olson

[Bo Bo Olson]

Nova cost here E-19 ($25) for a three two oz set..that was ok, was not ok it costs me E-15 ($20) to ship it from Holland to Germany....that is a rip off.

I E-mailed Nova in the states and got no answer. In that it might have been cheaper in $ with US air post.

 

SimiChrome is made in Germany. They will sell me Three tubes not one. I do not have 1,000-3,000 pens to polish. I have 30.

There is no place in the net to buy it in Germany.

 

So it's turtle wax....and my Dremel with a cotton wheel and jeweler's rouge.

 

So it's time to see if I can polish with a Dremel.

Wish me luck.

 

[wintermute]

How does Simichrome compare with Sears Green Buffing compound?

[Bo Bo Olson]

I cleaned my Esterbrooks today.

 

A very light buffing with the Dremel with some jewelers rouge with a cotton wheel, took off some "tarnish", with out really polishing them. I may have spent too little time on each pen.

To start with to get my hand in, on an extra black SJ barrel, I found out as others said, a Dremel can eat a pen easy. So I was very light handed after that.

 

The Turtle wax, gave each a fair shine, and those that were still shinny a good shine.

 

I have for my eye a good enough shine on @60 year old pens. I did not want to screw up. And I personally don't need it so shine better than new.

One black pen turned out to be a very, very dark gray.

Later I will get some superior wax.

 

I touched a junk Wearever to see what was what. Even a very light touch of the Dremel was too much. They get toothpaste and Turtle wax. One @1940's one cleaned up well that way today. The rest got to wait for the morning.

Edited May 30, 2009 by Bo Bo Olson