I would like to clean up my Stainless 66, what is best to use?

It depends on what parts need cleaning. The cylinder face gets most dirty, and lead remover cloths work well to get the residue off (don't use this on a blued gun, it won't stay blued). Any standard cleaner/lubricant works fine for the rest of the gun.

__________________
Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

If you are trying to remove surface scratches I've had good luck using the
liquid version of Flitz, which is weaker than the paste. I also recondition
vintage drums and prefer the liquid Flitz over the paste for most jobs since it's easier
to control. The paste tends to get squished into areas where I don't want it to go.

Here's my M66 that, when I got it, looked as if it had been put in a cement mixer
of sand and tumbled for awhile. I used the liquid Flitz and worked the gun by hand,
i.e. no Dremel type tool, which can generate heat and let the process get away from you.



A few years ago I reconditioned two Stainless Steel Ludwig Drum Co. Kits
back to back and used the liquid Flitz, by hand.

Below you will see one of the Bass Drums, which I could have easily
used the Paste Flitz on due to the large open areas. If I do use the Paste
I always re-Flitz with the liquid version in order to remove the protective film
left from the paste. I always apply multiple coats of a good cleaner wax on drums after
Flitzing and before applying the wax I prefer a good, clean surface with nothing else on it.

Before:





After:





The scratches came off the above drum pretty easy, it was the scuffing
left by sticks that took the most effort to get out.

Some Drummers like to keep spare sticks on the top of their Bass Drum
and while they are sitting there do a lot of vibrating. In the before photo
there is an open hole on the top of the drum and to the left & right of that
large hole are smaller sets of holes which is where Lugs go. The lines you see just
towards the large hole from the small sets of holes were where the sticks sat and vibrated.

To get this out I could have just worked those areas but would have
ended up with an uneven looking "depth of shine." Because of this I had to
work the whole diameter of the drum about 10-12 times before I was satisfied
with how those scuff marks came out. If not for that I could have easily handled the
scratches in about half the passes around the drum.

The only reason I mention the above is so that others know that when working a surface
and you are going for looks, rather than function, you need to work the areas evenly.

Here are both Stainless Kits mentioned afterwards. Both had been
gigged for years prior so they had quite a few scratches to show for their efforts.



Edited to add: I generally buy Flitz a few gallons at a time, which now,
since they did away with the qt. bottles, I have to do in 16 oz. "twin packs".
I forgot that Flitz does offer a stainless specific polish but I have no experience
with that version. My main Flitz is the liquid version, which now comes in black bottles.

Here's a pic that I had taken for a drum forum cleaning thread a number
of years ago so this is the old style (two types) bottles.



I've purchased Flitz many different places but when I found the site listed below
about 4 years ago I've been buying it there ever since. Good company to deal with.

Flitz-Polish.com - Flitz-Polish.com

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Ogy

I like to use Never dull for the general cleaning of stainless firearms. It can be found at any of the big box stores & is very reasonable. It will easily clean off any powder residue along with lead, grease, oils, bullet lube & other gunk. The can is full of cotton wading that has chemicals in it, just pull a piece out & clean/shine away. I like to use it on bore brushes also to clean the bores/cylinders.

I’m sure that there’s many products out there that will work. I just like to use the never dull, it’s cheap & has multiple uses being that it’s nothing more than saturated cotton.

just the other day i was watching some u-tube video's of buddy rich at work...what a master he was!i worked a police/security detail for him in the 70's in petersburg,va.1978 i think...i have a large rogers drum kit in the attic...i need to get it down sighhhh

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SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

The thing about Buddy was that it came naturally, which came across in his playing.

Rogers made some nice Drums and were innovators when it came to hardware.
Their "Memri-Lok" line paved the way for many others.

__________________
Ogy

I'm going to be picking up a used stainless Smith revolver soon. It's in very good shape, but (for better or worse) I can never leave well enough alone. So, I want to go over the surface and smooth out and more noticeable scratches, blems, etc. I don't want to polish it to a mirror finish - just back to the classic natural brushed stainless look.

I've used liquid Flitz before. But I wonder if the paste might be better for what I want to accomplish? Or, would it be too strong, and provide too great a polish/mirror look?

I know about the Scotch Brite route, but is that going to be too difficult to work around all the angles of the gun?

Thanks.

Personally I have never used Scotch-Brite or Steel Wool, of any grade, on
anything that I don't want to get scratched. Now if a person uses either of the
2 application methods mentioned above they can get decent results, if
that's the finish they are looking for, but the surface has to be worked evenly.

I can spot a surface that's been worked with Steel Wool or Scotch-Brite a mile away.

Paste or liquid Flitz really doesn't matter, although the Paste version is stronger,
the key factor is how much/long you work the surface.
As I mentioned in my previous post, the main reason I prefer the
liquid is that it's easier to control so doesn't end up in places, little crevices,
nooks & crannies where it can be time consuming to remove. I'll go hunt up
some photo's I have hosted for tutorial threads I had dealing with drum
reconditioning on drum forums.

Last night I spent a little over an hour on a M649 that a Michigan State
Police Trooper had used as his back-up for many, many years. In just that
little amount of time, using the liquid Flitz, I got it just about where I want it.
Edited later to add: The M649 mentioned above so was rough that I had to
go back the following night and rework it one more time. Photo also added below.



Here are the applicators that I've used for years, although Scott thinned
up their Shop Towels on me back in 2008-2009 so I also now use the
Scott Extreme Shop Towels for rougher surfaces, at least to start with.

Basically I take 2 or 3 paper towels (PT's) and leave them connected at
the perforations, then I fold them back on each other so it looks like 1 PT.
I then cut them down the middle lengthwise, lay those 2 halves on each other
then cut them cross-ways.
After separating them at the perf's I end up with PT "quarters," shown below.



I then take a quarter, fold it into a quarter, which is technically
an 1/8th and have my tried & true applicator.

When one surface gets cruddy, and crud is an abrasive, I filp it over and
use the other side. When that portion gets cruddy I open the 1/4 (1/8) up
and fold it back on itself for 2 more sides. When those get dirty I totally open
up that quarter, fold it back the opposite of how I started using it and have
4 more working surfaces.

Below is a folded quarter with liquid Flitz ready to be worked
into the PT before application.



While my applicator is my major "tool," it wouldn't be as effective without being
used with a popsickle stick (PS's) to get into tight areas or indentaions in the parts.

In addition to PS's I routinely use 6 different types of Pipe Cleaners and round
toothpicks (TP's), although it's hard to find good round toothpicks nowadays
since they, like the Scott Shop Towels, have been "cheapened up."
I keep an old set of toenail clippers in my cleaning tool kit and cut back the tips
of the round toothpicks different distances from the ends to give me different diameter
TP's suitable for the different sized nooks & crannies I have to deal with.



I also use many different sizes & bristle types of brushes, which helps get Flitz
residue & Wax out of the nooks & crannies much faster than if using a PS or TP.

Just remember, crud is an abrasive so you don't want to use an applicator
after it gets to a certain point, which all depends on what you're working
and how cruddy it was to begin with. Another thing, always work the right
angles & indentations on whatever you are cleaning first. This is where crud
tends to gather and you'll more than likely scuff up the surrounding areas a
little getting it out of there, besides that, those areas are the hardest to work,
as opposed to open areas, which is where the popsickle sticks really shine, pun intended.

By working these hard to work areas first, then finishing up any adjacent
open area's afterwards you can clean up any scuffing that may have
developed while getting the crud out, which you may not even think
is there, trust me, it usually is, then match the shine of the adjacent open
areas to how well you did in the harder to reach spots.

Always work the hard spots first then finish up with the easy stuff.

Remember, just take it slow and remove the Flitz from the part often.
This does two things, it gets the crud off the part and actually
does more cleaning than when working the wet polish around.

Since this thread is about stainless I'll finish up with a "tear down" pic of
one of the Stainless Kits shown earlier. Every part you see below, right down
to the screws (threads & head slots) were washed, flitzed, re-washed & given
multiple coats of wax. The only thing that doesn't get waxed are the threads
themselves. For years my motto has been, "I Love the Smell of Flitz in the Morning."

__________________
Ogy

What really gets ugly after firing stainless revolvers is the face of the cylinder. I've had great results with the Adco "E-Z Brite Wonder cloth." It takes little effort to remove the black lead deposits there. Patches of it also do a great job of removing lead deposits in the bore. I order mine through Dillon Precision; it can be found in their Blue Press catalog/magazine.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Wow. Great write-up, Ogy. I had no idea that a drum kit might ever have been made in all stainless. I would have simply imagined that they were galvanized, powdercoated, or chrome-plated. Learn something new every day.

My lingering question, in regards to maintaining/restoring the original "brushed" natural stainless finish on a S&W revolver, is whether the Flitz is still going to ultimately polish the surface to a mirror finish? I just can't tell from your photos.

Thanks oliveview!

Regular stainless on S&W revolvers polishes up pretty quickly,
which is why I recommend working the hard spots first.

The "matte" stainless, like on the M642 cylinder & bbl, takes a lot
longer and has to be worked more evenly. About a month ago I worked the
stainless surfaces of a "beater" M642 and even though I used a Dremel
Tool, which I rarely do on outside surfaces, it took longer to get lesser results
than it did doing the whole M649 last night by hand. On top of that the 642's ss
didn't have the depth of shine that the 649 ended up with.

I think I know what you mean by "brushed" stainless, if not referring to
the matte finish I mentioned above. If it's different than the matte then
I don't have any experience with that finish, yet.....

Ludwig offered Stainless Shelled Drum Outfits from 1975 up until around 1980,
dropping them when material costs got too prohibitive. To me, stainless
is some of the best sounding drums, with the right heads, that I've ever played.

Here's an older Flitz thread, that, even though it repeats some of
what I already posted in this thread, I'll provide the link here.

Flitz

__________________
Ogy

The problem I've found with Flitz is it leaves the metal too shiney . Your gun comes out looking like something a New Orleans pimp would own .
I prefer the satin stainless look .

It all boils down to how you use it. The problem I see when it comes to polishing
is that most people think that the more they work a part, the better it gets.
Sometimes less is better and by using the less powerful liquid version you
have more time to assess what you've already accomplished than you do
with the stronger paste. That's another reason I recommended removing
the Flitz often during the process, so you can see where your at, shine-wise.

This overworking of a surface is the main reason why I never recommend
others use a Dremel, or any power type tool, for polishing unless they have
experience with that power tool.

Once again, always work the hard areas first, that way you can work towards
an even finish with the desired amount of shine. Flitz is just the medium,
just like a gun, it's all about how it's used that makes the difference.

__________________
Ogy

"Pimp" reference, aside. I would probably use the term "satin" as well, to describe the factory S&W revolver finish. Same, too, as Ruger has done forever with their stainless revolvers and particularly, the SS MK-series pistols.

THAT is the finish I'd like to learn more about revitalizing and preserving. Something tells me that (at the factory) they must use a medium-fine wire wheel on the entire gun/parts, then they hit that with a strong polishing stage. So, that leaves all the ultra-fine scratches in the surface, but removes the roughness.

I polished an old SP101 years ago, As much I like the shiny stainless look, it's just not worth it because it can never stay free of finger-prints and oil smears. Definitely, the wrong gun to leave behind if you happen to rob a bank... ;-) But I'd love to put the satin/brushed finish BACK on the gun. I think I've have to use the scotch pads for that, as it's already a mirror finish now.

That's why I like to use the never dull, it's designed to remove the tarnish, carbon, lead & other gunk that's on the metal surface. If the metal you use it on was bright/shinny it will bring the metal back to that luster. If the metal was dull, that's what you'll get for a finished produt.

Flitz is a product that removes material, don't think so, run it on tight cleaning patches in your bore & see what happens. Never dull is designed to remove foreign material, tarnish & discolorations from the base metal & bring that metal back to it's origional finish.

I'm not going to engage in a debate about what products are better than others
but just want to set the record straight on Flitz, specifically the liquid version.

I have used it on many different surfaces, including plastics, paints & lacquer
without ill effects. Any product that will remove any buildup whatsoever, will remove material.

Below is a lacquer Kit, which is mine, that I did using the liquid Flitz.
This Kit had been stored in a closet for 20 years before I got it and had turned
a funky yellow-ish color with a stickiness to the finish. The Flitz brought it
back easily and now the finish is slippery as all get out.



Below you will see a painted badge after Flitzing. I don't know how
many of these I've done over the years, hundred's for sure, and have
never removed the paint using Flitz. Could I have? Yes. But I could do the
same thing with almost any product if I over worked it.



Many of the other Drum Co. badges I've worked were also painted, or, in the
case of older Ludwig's, were soft brass. I've cleaned hundred's of the other
type's of badges using the Liquid Flitz without ill effect.

__________________
Ogy

I have to say,Thats one nice job yuo guys have done. Very nice indeed. Stay safe and thank again.