Guys, Anyone have some good advice on cleaning, polishing and SHINING the knurling on early Super Speeds? In particular the finer knurl of the 1947-1954 SS. Have recently obtained several models to feed my addiction and need to get 'em nice and pretty. Many happy thanks in advance.
After boiling, soap and toothbrush, MAAS and toothbrush twice, still dull even though the rest of the razor looks good. I'm afraid to ask, but what is your toothpick method?
ahh, I didn't read you post thoroughly...I only picked up "cleaning" "knurling" and "superspeed" :ashamed001 I use toothpicks to clean out gunk that won't come out with normal boiling and scrubbing. As for shining it up, I've had several that wouldn't shine up until I finally found some MAAS after months of searching (finally found some in Shreveport, but saw some in Texarkana a few weeks ago) but even with MAAS, I've a few that won't really shine. I figure the plating is worn too much to really hold a shine. I did take a chance on a couple with my dremel on low speed with a polishing pad, and it seemed to help pretty good on one, but the other, while shinier, still isn't very bright.
Sounds like we've had similar experiences, Jim. To me, when compared to the beefier knurling of the '55+ models, the plating on this generation seems different. I suppose the plating and texture could more quickly wear/dull with handling since it's finer, but I'm hoping it's just finding the right method to get in between the highs and lows of the knurling. :think002 Like you, I've been thinking of trying my Dremel with a cloth polishing wheel attached and plenty of polish. Thanks for the feedback.
This is a learning oportunity - I have been told that one way to clean up a safety is to throw it in a pot of boiling water. Would that be an option for tex? Under what situations would one throw a safety into a pot of boiling water?
I boiled mine for 20 minutes before any cleaning. Yep, I've read good and bad opinions about boiling but have seen no harm - certainly gets rid of any built up gunk. Just can't get the knurling clean on some even though the rest of the razor gets shiny...
I am going to guess that it is plate loss. I have one of that style that the head cleaned up ok... but the handle is dull.. my Grandfathers 57 model is the same. I opinion was the the handle gets much more rubbing from the fingers moving around during a shave that it dulled faster. But just my opinion for what it is worth.
Progress... Thanks to all for the help. Baking soda/boiling water chemistry class + MAAS helped on some. I believe this separates the razors with heavy tarnish (showed improvement) from those with heavy tarnish + plating loss (little or no improvement). Bonus is it cleans up tarnished mirror surfaces nicely...but that fine knurling is a stubborn breed. Next step: polishing wheel on my grinder. Don't worry, will use bum razor.
