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S&W-Smithing Maintenance, Repair, and Enhancement of Smith & Wesson and Other Firearms.


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Old 06-27-2018, 03:37 PM
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Default Nickle Finish damage at Triggerguard Exterior

I know it is almost impossible to "repair" a SW Nickle Finish. About the size of a pinhead right on the outside curve of my 39-2 Nickle Auto. After many years shooting my beauty...old age or my care may be at fault regarding what it used to be. I seriously don't know how I did it. I have been told by a couple of friends it an be masked or fixed. Anyone else heard that? Ideas?
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Old 06-27-2018, 03:53 PM
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I'm not aware of a "fix" for a damaged nickle finish. Avoid using any solvents that have ammonia in them. The ammonia gets under the nickle and will lift it off.
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Old 06-29-2018, 07:09 AM
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There's no repair for a piece of nickel missing or flaked off. Is it a rusted spot?

An area missing nickel plating is about .003" below the surface of the nickel plating around it.

What you can do is with very fine 2000 grit paper and a small flat sanding block is blend the edges of the plating around the spot flush to the level of the spot. In other words 'feather' the edges until they no longer show.

You can't just do the area right around the spot. You don't want a wallow. You want the area to still be flat when done. So you'll need to sand an area about 1/4" in diameter with the flat sanding bock until the spot is flush and looks flat with surrounding area. Finish up by polishing the sanded area with Flitx, Semi-Chrome, Mother's Mag wheel polish or the like. The pin head spot of bare polished metal will match the surrounding polished nickel and no longer stand out like a fly in the punch bowl. Unless there are rust pits in the spot that you can't get out because they are too deep. Polish the rest of the gun while you're at it, and the nickel will look new.
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Old 06-30-2018, 12:15 PM
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Other than a complete refinishing, there is no repair for a damaged nickel plated surface.

As for not using solvents containing ammonia due to dissolving an underlying layer of copper plating, it is my understanding that S&W did not use a copper plating, but applied the nickel plating directly to the steel or aluminum. Even so, I'd still be careful with solvents.
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Old 07-02-2018, 04:55 PM
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While the answer of there being no real repair for damaged Nickel is correct other than a re-finish, I HAVE been very successful with Nickel repairs this way.

While one can not "spot touch up" Nickel, what can be done is a very high polish of the damaged area. For instance...... I have a very early I/J frame Chief's Special (circa 1951) in Nickel and there is one particular screw in it that holds the Cylinder's Flat Latch onto the Bolt that I just can not find in Nickel, (yes, this one has a tiny screw - not the traditional nut-screw the latter models have). I was able to find a blued one and I took the bluing off and gave it a high polish so it looks just like Nickel. Because it is so highly polished and super smooth it never rusts either. (note: the original was too buggered up to repair).

So IF IT IS FEASIBLE, you can use a Dremel Moto-tool with a Cotton Flannel buffing wheel attachment and some Flitz to high polish the area to blend it in. Sometimes the area is difficult to get at with the tool and please make sure you do not do damage with the chuck of the Dremel. It really helps if you have the flexible pencil shaft attachment which is much smaller and more delicate for fine work.

This method has worked quite well for me.
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