fine swirl marks in brass

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germanshepherd13

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Jan 4, 2014
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I have a few buck 110's that I did not send in to Buck for the spa treatment, yet. I actually got them cleaned up really nice and got a mirror finish on the brass using blue magic metal polish. The only thing is there are the very fine swirl marks left behind. I tried finishing them with a non-abrasive polish but still have the swirl/haze marks.
Would Flitz or simichrome work any better or do they leave the same slight swirls marks? I read a lot of posts about these two polishes but nothing that answered my question.
I am using a soft microfiber cloth. I tried getting a photo but unable to get the swirls to show up based on the lighting but just imagine fine swirl marks within a deep mirror polished finish..
thanks
 
A buffing wheel would definitely help that but I understand that not everyone has that. :) I like to use mothers mag and aluminum polish on my buck brass. It's very mild but gets the tarnish out. If it really bothers you, and you don't have a buffer, you may have to sand it with some high grit sandpaper
 
Thanks Haze, I did try a buffing wheel (forgot to mention that) but same result...wondering if the blue magic is too abrasive but Flitz and simichrome have some abrasives as well from what I am reading..
Sandpaper always scares me for some reason.. I know it would by high grit but still seems counter intuitive but you are probably right..may need to go that route but I may just settle for the way it is as it still looks good, night and say vs how they were before..

I think maybe I pressed too hard by hand making the swirls worse. I was trying to remove them by pressing harder but that was probably the wrong thing to do.
 
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You might try some of the Porter Cable #5 polish compound. You can generally find it a Lowe's. It is like jewelers rouge> #5 is the smoothest of the compounds and is used HIGH GLOSS. Works great with my Dremel.
Mike
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If you tried a buffing wheel and they didn't come out. Then something was wrong. What was the wheel and the applied paste? DM
 
Not sure if you are talking about fine swirl marks from polishing or not.
I always polish mine with straight strokes from scales to the end and never have any swirling marks left in the bolsters.
Maybe you're talking about something different though…maybe something deeper in the bolsters.
 
Aha! Okay what I generally do is white compound on a tighter wheel and red rouge on a looser wheel. The white is just a tad more aggressive and while usually get most fine scratches out. The red is just to make me feel better. Then I spray we-40 all over and inside to clean the polish goo out. Use a tooth pick and an old undershirt to get the excess. Mothers May and aluminum polish and a drop or two of nano oil in the pivot. BAM!! brand new knife
 
David Martin said:
If you tried a buffing wheel and they didn't come out. Then something was wrong. What was the wheel and the applied paste? DM
Click to expand...

not sure of the name of the wheel but it was made up of a cloth type material, several layers tightly packed but very soft. I was using the same Blue Magic metal polish and the a regular non abrasive car polish. The marks were basically still there but I created them in the first place which is odd.
The finish is mirror like and looks great until you hold it at the right angle and then I can see the fine swirly marks.
 
Ok, for those marks a sewn cotton buff/wheel with fine slurry won't take them out. One should use a sisal wheel/ buff with grey brick slurry applied and the buff spinning at 13-1500rpm. Which is beyond a drill. Work it on this first then move on to the sewn cotton wheel with a green chromium brick slurry applied. Then on to the slurry you mention for the final polish. DM
 
David Martin said:
Ok, for those marks a sewn cotton buff/wheel with fine slurry won't take them out. One should use a sisal wheel/ buff with grey brick slurry applied and the buff spinning at 13-1500rpm. Which is beyond a drill. Work it on this first then move on to the sewn cotton wheel with a green chromium brick slurry applied. Then on to the slurry you mention for the final polish. DM
Click to expand...
Thanks DM
 
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