Polishing old tone bars?

Don McClellan · Post by **Don McClellan** » 8 Dec 2005 12:02 pm

Can the burrs and dings in an old tone bar be buffed out to make it play like new again? Thanks, Don

Jim Bob Sedgwick · Post by **Jim Bob Sedgwick** » 8 Dec 2005 5:25 pm

If the burrs and dinks are very small, use Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish. As Farris would say: Makes em slicker than possum guts on a door knob.

Seriously Mother's polish works very well on stainless steel.

Sonny Priddy · Post by **Sonny Priddy** » 8 Dec 2005 5:45 pm

Or Use A Buffing Wheel Then Mothers Polish. SONNY.

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Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 9 Dec 2005 5:29 am

I've often wondered how those possum guts got on the door knob.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 9 Dec 2005 5:56 am

Mother's is non-abrasive. Simichrome or MAAS first, which is slightly abrasive, to get small surface scratches and then you can finish with Mother's.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 9 Dec 2005 7:12 am

I make my own bars sometimes and hence consider myself to be somewhat expert on the subject of smoothness. The grit of any given abrasive is going to flatten out a surface 1/2 the size of the grit. For a really, really dinged-up bar, I would start with 220 grit emory paper (the wet/dry dark gray stuff), wrapped around a hard sanding block, and used with water. Sand it until there are no more grooves left. Then, 220 paper with your finger, then 400 grit emory paper, then 1500 grit paper. By looking at the size of the grooves, you can figure out what size abrasive is needed.

You can play with a bar finished with the 1500 or 2000 grit paper you get at auto supply stores, but a final finish with Mother's or another metal polish will definately help with the smoothness of the feel. If you want to get it really smooth, you can the buff it on a wheel with progressively finer polishing compounds, but you can also play it smooth too - it's your time.

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 9 Dec 2005 12:31 pm

I like mine dinged up so's I can hold on to it. Polish it, and it's so smooth it shoots outa my hand

Jim Bob Sedgwick · Post by **Jim Bob Sedgwick** » 9 Dec 2005 7:41 pm

Lee, Haven't you ever heard of Kids?

Mr. Stoner, try putting a little Mothers between the tips of your finger. Rub and you will feel the abrasive. (less so than Simichrome though) I thought the same thing until I tried the bare fingers route.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Jim Bob Sedgwick on 09 December 2005 at 07:43 PM.]</p></FONT>