Polishing metal buttons

[Christian Husmann]

What else is there to do on a Saturday morning… the difference doesn’t come through on the photos, inner two rows are clean now, the other side done completely 

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Christian Husmann

[wunks]

I'm Curious.  Does cleaning affect playability one way or another?  

[Christian Husmann]

No, it’s just for the look of it, the buttons were almost completely dark

Edited January 15, 2022 by Christian Husmann

[Crabb97]

Is there anything in particular you used to clean the buttons?

[Christian Husmann]

It was actually car-polish.

it´s been recommended to me to clean silver and other metals and worked very well on the buttons 

[Robin Harrison]

Tortoise-shell ended Æola ?

              Looks lovely !

[Christian Husmann]

51 minutes ago, Robin Harrison said:

Tortoise-shell ended Æola ?

              Looks lovely !

 Yes, it’s really nice and it’s got such a mellow tone… 

[Geoff Wooff]

Some  tarnish,  as in your  case  Christian,  can  leave  the  metal  buttons  slightly  sticky  or  feeling rough.  I  think it is  good to  have  a very smooth  polish  on the  ends of the  buttons  so  that    fingers  can side  on and off  without  resistance.  Some  might  prefer  a grippy  surface  but  I  find  it is  useful  to  be able to  slightly adjust  the  position of  the  fingers on the  buttons  for  better  chord  shapes  or  when  playing two  notes with  one finger.

 

I  also  think  the  suggestion, on facebook,  of  re-plating  those  buttons  is  a good one.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Geoff Wooff

[Christian Husmann]

Hello Geoff,

apart from cosmetic reasons I prefer the non-sticky version as well. My own sweat shouldn’t be the reason as it’s never occurred on my other Instruments. I hope it’s going to stay relatively clean now, if you zoom into the photos now the dark spots that you seen on each button are apparently a reflection of me holding the phone. I’ll attach a photo so you can see how they looked before the treatment. 
Hope to find sth now to give the ends back a bit of a shine. 

[Rod Pearce]

Christian

 

To clean the ends and improve their finish I have used Super NIcko burnishing cream, recommended to me by an ex luthier and French Polisher. It is a little expensive, but you shouldn't need a lot. It is used by violin makers / repairers to clean those instruments.

 

Available from Beare and Son, £5

https://beareandson.co.uk/super-nicko-31-p.asp

 

Regards,

Rod

[Christian Husmann]

Thanks for the advice, Rod!