Ulahns way of removing tired old nickel plate.
Nov 2, 2019 16:37:42 GMT
Post by Uhlan on Nov 2, 2019 16:37:42 GMT
There are a lot of blades out there with this old nickel plate on them.
In itself there's nothing wrong with that. It's just that one may find a blade where the plate has lifted and the steel is rusting. This makes for an ugly picture, but apart from gently trying to remove the rust as not to damage the plate any further there's nothing else really one can do.
Taking such a blade to the plater, well that's quite the hassle, as the sabre must be taken apart and re plating can be quite expensive. Not that the result will be pleasing to the eye.
New nickel plate looks nothing like the plate of old, which has a yellow sheen to it and looks soft, a bit buttery.
New plate looks hard, cold and more like chrome. On an old sabre it can stand out like a sore thumb.
So, what to do if you have a blade that looks like it has some exiting and rare tropical disease,
or escaped out of a medieval sick bay?
My solution is the get the damaged plate off and polish the blade up a bit. It will sure look much better.
How to: Clean the blade with acetone. Grease one side really well and place that side on some plastic. Get yourself some nitric acid and thin it so you'll have 1 to 8 solution. That's 8 parts water on 1 part acid. If you want you may thin it even more, but the reaction will be slower.
Put some kind of glasses on as to protect the eyes. Ulahn does not do that of course, but my lawyer insists I include the nanny message. Swab say the fuller. See the plate turn milky and wait for about 5 to 10 minutes. Clean the acid off with a piece of cloth and spray a lot of WD40 or some such in the fuller. Let it soak for 5 minutes, swab some off and make a little roll of 180 grid and gently start polishing. The plate comes off instantly without much effort.
Clean and inspect and repeat the oily 180 grid if needed. Be sure to remove all brass under plate. It looks golden a bit and you need good light to see the ghosting of it on the steel.
I just did a plated blade and tried everything. Reverse plating, all kinds of chemicals, all sorts of voltages, whatever. Didn't work. Nada and zilch.
This afternoon I went at it in the raw with 80 grid. That worked to some extent but with a lot of effort and much potential for damage to the steel. Also lots of the brass under plate remained.
So I said ,,F!!! you'' and did the nitric acid thing as last resort.
That did the trick. 180 grid is quite gentle on the steel and easily polished up to whatever grade you want. Just refresh the paper frequently as the nickel-brass and oil mix turns it useless quite fast. And be sure to clean all residue of oil and acid from the blade, top and greasy underside too and put a fresh coat of oil on it. Acid can be hell on steel when left alone to fester.
As I just came down from the attic from some hours in the cold and I am not going back up again to make pictures to service you lazy lot that is seated in front of a nice fire with bowls of chips and tacos an' stuff, I will post some pictures tomorrow.
In itself there's nothing wrong with that. It's just that one may find a blade where the plate has lifted and the steel is rusting. This makes for an ugly picture, but apart from gently trying to remove the rust as not to damage the plate any further there's nothing else really one can do.
Taking such a blade to the plater, well that's quite the hassle, as the sabre must be taken apart and re plating can be quite expensive. Not that the result will be pleasing to the eye.
New nickel plate looks nothing like the plate of old, which has a yellow sheen to it and looks soft, a bit buttery.
New plate looks hard, cold and more like chrome. On an old sabre it can stand out like a sore thumb.
So, what to do if you have a blade that looks like it has some exiting and rare tropical disease,
or escaped out of a medieval sick bay?
My solution is the get the damaged plate off and polish the blade up a bit. It will sure look much better.
How to: Clean the blade with acetone. Grease one side really well and place that side on some plastic. Get yourself some nitric acid and thin it so you'll have 1 to 8 solution. That's 8 parts water on 1 part acid. If you want you may thin it even more, but the reaction will be slower.
Put some kind of glasses on as to protect the eyes. Ulahn does not do that of course, but my lawyer insists I include the nanny message. Swab say the fuller. See the plate turn milky and wait for about 5 to 10 minutes. Clean the acid off with a piece of cloth and spray a lot of WD40 or some such in the fuller. Let it soak for 5 minutes, swab some off and make a little roll of 180 grid and gently start polishing. The plate comes off instantly without much effort.
Clean and inspect and repeat the oily 180 grid if needed. Be sure to remove all brass under plate. It looks golden a bit and you need good light to see the ghosting of it on the steel.
I just did a plated blade and tried everything. Reverse plating, all kinds of chemicals, all sorts of voltages, whatever. Didn't work. Nada and zilch.
This afternoon I went at it in the raw with 80 grid. That worked to some extent but with a lot of effort and much potential for damage to the steel. Also lots of the brass under plate remained.
So I said ,,F!!! you'' and did the nitric acid thing as last resort.
That did the trick. 180 grid is quite gentle on the steel and easily polished up to whatever grade you want. Just refresh the paper frequently as the nickel-brass and oil mix turns it useless quite fast. And be sure to clean all residue of oil and acid from the blade, top and greasy underside too and put a fresh coat of oil on it. Acid can be hell on steel when left alone to fester.
As I just came down from the attic from some hours in the cold and I am not going back up again to make pictures to service you lazy lot that is seated in front of a nice fire with bowls of chips and tacos an' stuff, I will post some pictures tomorrow.