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Message |
    
Ischorr
Tinkerer
Username: Ischorr
Post Number: 1
Registered: 07-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 01:11 am: | 
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Hello all.
I recently bought my first "classic" camera - a Kodak No. 2 Autographic Folding Brownie.
The leather is in reasonably good shape, but the metal parts aren't as good as they probably could be. There is some corrosion (rust) in some small patches, and it just generally looks dull. It seems like there's a light layer of tarnish on the non-black parts, and if it can be removed without damaging the color it seems like it'd really improve the look of the camera.
I don't really have any metal cleaning experience, and obviously I don't want to do anything that would DAMAGE the camera...So very cautious.
Does anyone have any general advice for cleaning/polishing the metal on these type cameras?
Thanks! |
Tom_cheshire
Tinkerer
Username: Tom_cheshire
Post Number: 74
Registered: 04-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 06:14 am: |
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You can't get rust off unless you sandpaper it and it still leaves you with a "rust was here" look.
For polishing use any metal polish. Our preference is the paste type in a tube (like toothpaste). Right now we have Wenol and BlueMagic but they are all the same.
Apply with a Q-Tip and polish with a Q-Tip. |
Marty
Tinkerer
Username: Marty
Post Number: 31
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 09:03 am: |
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Nickel plating will sometimes get a gray, oxidized layer that can be very hard to polish off... Vinegar will remove it very well. If the part is hard to remove, and I don't want to soak the leather, etc, I'll often cut small pieces of cloth to lay over the part, (gun cleaning patches work well for this,) then soak them with vinegar and let it soak for maybe 20 minutes, gently pressing the wet material against the metal. The gray layer will then often wipe off easily.
There are many metal polishes that work well. I like Simichrome, which is pretty easy to find here in the States. Nickel polishes easily, just don't polish through it. Chrome is harder and takes more elbow grease and patience, but nickel is more often seen on the older cameras. Brass will usually have a laquer coating, and it's often best to avoid polishing but just clean it well, unless it's really godawful ugly. |
Clay
Tinkerer
Username: Clay
Post Number: 25
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 09:34 am: |
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To take light rust off firearms without damaging
the bluing, I have always used 50/50 boiled
linseed oil/turpentine with 000 steel wool.Should
work for cameras as well.Just be gentle then coat
very lightly with oil to protect from further rusting.
Best regards,
/Clay |
Tom_cheshire
Tinkerer
Username: Tom_cheshire
Post Number: 76
Registered: 04-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 20, 2009 - 04:53 pm: |
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Simichrome. That is the brand name I was trying to remember. Yes, same as the Wenol. Noxon is just as good also. |
Finnegan
Tinkerer
Username: Finnegan
Post Number: 37
Registered: 09-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2010 - 11:20 am: |
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If you decide to disassemble it, soak the parts in gasoline. Rust comes off after about 24 hours in a gas bath. |
Finnegan
Tinkerer
Username: Finnegan
Post Number: 38
Registered: 09-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 07, 2010 - 11:20 am: |
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If you decide to disassemble it, soak the parts in gasoline. Rust comes off after about 24 hours in a gas bath. |
Fallisphoto
Tinkerer
Username: Fallisphoto
Post Number: 124
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 - 11:36 am: |
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If it is actual rust, you are probably going to need to repaint the camera, because rust causes pits; it never will look right after that. It doesn't much matter what you use if that is the case. I'd use Naval Jelly (to get it out of the pits) and steel wool or sandpaper (to provide a "tooth" that will make the new paint stick better).
If you use enamel, you'll have to strip the whole thing down to the frame first, because you will have to bake the enamel to harden it. The heat will damage things like bellows and such. If you use epoxy paint, you won't have to do that.
Before doing anything though, make sure it is rust. Kodak, along with several other manufacturers, used orange shellac to stick down camera coverings and other bits and piece) and once it gets aged and picks up some dirt, that dirty shellac can look quite a lot like rust. It can be a VERY convincing imitation. Get some rubbing alcohol and a cotton rag and see if you can't just scrub it off first. I just did a folding camera for a guy who wanted me to scrub the rust off of it and refinish it. I was thinking to myself "wait a minute; this is aluminum, and aluminum doesn't rust." Looked just like it though. It all came off with alcohol. |
