Flitz polish

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Flitz

One week prior to this thread I used Flitz on a beater 1917 commercial. 99% of the bluing came off. I was not aggressive. I will put up pics on another thread. I’m hoping I took off a bad old reblue and not the original finish! Be careful gents.
There are 2 products: Flitz wax in a black squeeze bottle and abrasive Flitz in the tube as pictured by the OP. I used the tube product. Dave
 
I hope it works out good for you Thinnes.

I was not aggressive at all, not in the least. There was no trace of any bluing on the cloth I wiped it off with.

I'm not going to be polishing my guns with Flitz every other day. I seriously doubt than any of my guns have ever been thoroughly cleaned.

So far I am 110% pleased with the results I'v got from polishing them with Flitz.
 
runscott said:
Sounds like for guns, any carnuba works well, but I would still get a small can of Renaissance. It's also handy for most anything wood or leather and one can should last you a long time.
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I will order some today. Enough folks here have recommended it so now I'm sold.
 
We are well into this post, but I think this pertinent. I once was a research microbiologist who did electron microscopy. Why that is important, is following. When a filament change was necessary, and to do it required removing the top of the entire column...a big job that had to be followed by realignment. Before reassembling the column, the anode cap above the filament....which gets coated with tungsten vapors...must be cleaned.. It looks like shiny chromed cap with a hole in the center through which a stream of electrons flow and are then directed with large electromagnets(lenses). Point here...and pertaining to our guns...IF the wrong cleaner or polish is used...tearing down a column required another 4 hours and the wrong polish makes scratches that are invisible to the eye. The Hitachi engineers REQUIRED "Wenol" paste A German product readily available here. I never used Flitz again. It is great on stainless, car bumpers, etc. but maybe too ABRASIVE.

Wenol is available in an orange tube, perfect for our uses, or an even finer Blue tube. Remember slow is better....everything is abrasive, even a cotton glove.
 
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tjpopkin said:
Wenol is available in an orange tube, perfect for our uses, or an even finer Blue tube. Remember slow is better....everything is abrasive, even a cotton glove.
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So would the blue tube be better than the orange??
 
rubiranch said:
So I bought another polishing cloth and some Renaissance Wax and waxed it. :D

It looks better in person. Really. ;)

Thanks for the advise. :)
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Beautiful! By WA state law, I should be able to pick up my .357 magnum Saturday (here in WA-WA-land 'maximum wait' for anything firearm-related actually means 'minimum wait, then you complain, then you can wait some more').

Polish, wax, silicon cloth, etc., etc....all on standby. Hopefully I will have a nice set of 'before and after' photos for this thread by Saturday afternoon.
 
runscott said:
Beautiful! By WA state law, I should be able to pick up my .357 magnum Saturday
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Thank you. "waiting" Kind of like being a kid who gets up too early on Christmas morning.

I recently acquired a .357 Magnum with a 3 1/2" barrel but I wont get it for maybe a month or so. I'd like to have it yesterday. :D

runscott said:
Polish, wax, silicon cloth, etc., etc....all on standby. Hopefully I will have a nice set of 'before and after' photos for this thread by Saturday afternoon.
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I had a bunch of cleaning stuff including some Hoppe's bore cleaner. Almost every gun I have acquired this pat year were extremely neglected so I bought some odds and ends to clean them up.

Now I keep getting more stuff due to recommendations from folks here in the forum - all good stuff.



My sister sent this to me for Christmas so now I think I'm set. :rolleyes:

 
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Wiregrassguy said:
Check out Blue Wonder cleaner on YouTube. It removes rust but does not affect bluing. It will remove copper and lead from gun bores. You can use it on wood stocks to extract oil and dirt.
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My kit is getting full. LOL

After using the cleaner what do you suggest next??
 
rubiranch said:
Thank you. "waiting" Kind of like being a kid who gets up too early on Christmas morning.



My sister sent this to me for Christmas so now I think I'm set. :rolleyes:
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Pretty! Now that you have your display set for Saturday inspections, you have to get the stuff you'll actually use.:D:D:D
 
tjpopkin said:
We are well into this post, but I think this pertinent. I once was a research microbiologist who did electron microscopy. Why that is important, is following. When a filament change was necessary, and to do it required removing the top of the entire column...a big job that had to be followed by realignment. Before reassembling the column, the anode cap above the filament....which gets coated with tungsten vapors...must be cleaned.. It looks like shiny chromed cap with a hole in the center through which a stream of electrons flow and are then directed with large electromagnets(lenses). Point here...and pertaining to our guns...IF the wrong cleaner or polish is used...tearing down a column required another 4 hours and the wrong polish makes scratches that are invisible to the eye. The Hitachi engineers REQUIRED "Wenol" paste A German product readily available here. I never used Flitz again. It is great on stainless, car bumpers, etc. but maybe too ABRASIVE.

Wenol is available in an orange tube, perfect for our uses, or an even finer Blue tube. Remember slow is better....everything is abrasive, even a cotton glove.
Click to expand...

The orangey-pinkish Wenol is jeweler's rouge as the "abrasive". It is used to polish precious metals WITHOUT removing any significant metal. The blue stuff is a much newer product, and I think geared towards harder metals like stainless or chrome. I think it is the "automotive" formula. IT IS LESS AGRESSIVE! I just did some further research.

I've used the pinkish Wenol since the '80s.

"Excellent on all metals: Aluminum, Brass, Copper - Chrome, Silver, Gold, Bronze, Stainless, Magnesium, Pewter and more. Also works on Fiberglass, Plexiglass, Tile, Formica, Enamel Surfaces, and more. Wenol (Red) is excellent for metal cleaning and restoration projects. This cutting polish can be used on any metal to remove tough stains, oxidation, acid rain spots, and surface rust. Wenol (Blue) is excellent for metal polishing and restoration projects. This polish can be used on any metal to remove tough stains, oxidation, acid rain spots, and surface rust. Slightly less abrasive that the Red Wenol." This was from an automotive-related sire.
 
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Racer X said:
The orangey-pinkish Wenol is jeweler's rouge as the "abrasive". It is used to polish precious metals WITHOUT removing any significant metal. The blue stuff is a much newer product, and I think geared towards harder metals like stainless or chrome. I think it is the "automotive" formula.

I've used the pinkish Wenol since the '80s.
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Thank you.

Would you say the orange Wenol is more or less abrasive than Flitz?
 
I've been using liquid Flitz to polish empty cartridge brass for many years. I also have been using it to polish my wife's silver plate coffee/ tea service. So far, so good. I worked in a gun shop back in the early 70's. When business was slow, the owner would have me polish used S&W .38/44 HD nickel revolvers with Simichrome. They must have been police or security company trade-ins. It always made them shine like a diamond in a goat's ***.
 
The full story on Hoppe's #9 bad press with nickel plating:

1. Hoppe's #9 used to contain ammonia, I understand it no longer does.

2. Ammonia was the so called culprit for the jeopardy to nickel plating.

3. Some nickel plating was pre plated with copper when re-nickel plated; but not by the factory.

4. Ammonia won't harm nickel, only the pre layer of copper. So if there's a crack in the nickel or a worn thru spot, the copper is attacked and the nickel peels off.

5. S&W did not and does not pre plate w/copper before nickel plating their guns which are therefore safe from the old Hoppe's.

Hope this helps,
 
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rubiranch said:
That's exactly what I thought when I opened it. :D:D:D:D
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I'd never seen a cleaning kit so elegant. I'm glad I didn't hurt your feelings; that kit was so pretty, I couldn't help thinking of the display tray we had in our Army foot lockers all neatly arranged on a carefully folded towel, looking very pretty, but never used.
GMTA!
 
Hondo44 said:
The full story on Hoppe's #9 bad press with nickel plating:

1. Hoppe's #9 used to contain ammonia, I understand it no longer does.

2. Ammonia was the so called culprit for the jeopardy to nickel plating.

3. Some nickel plating was pre plated with copper when re-nickel plated; but not by the factory.

4. Ammonia won't harm nickel, only the pre layer of copper. So if there's a crack in the nickel or a worn thru spot, the copper is attacked and the nickel peels off.

5. S&W did not and does not pre plate w/copper before nickel plating their guns which are therefore safe from the old Hoppe's.

Hope this helps,
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Thanks for the info.
 
THREEDFLYER said:
If the gun has some surface issues I sparingly use Flitz and follow up with Renaissance Wax......it gives amazing results especially in the deep S&W blue.
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I gave it a finished coat of Renaissance Wax and it turned out really really nice.

I lightly applied the Flitz with my finger and lightly rubbed mainly because I had never used it before and wasn't sure just how abrasive it was going to be.

The two guns that I have polished with Flitz there was no sign of any bluing left on the polishing cloth.

Right now I wouldn't hesitate to use it on any of the other blue guns I have.
 
Dave from Pa said:
Very nice, one caveat Flitz can remove bluing if you are too aggressive.It is also excellant for nickel and stainless.Mothers Mag wheel polish works well and is not quite as aggressive on blue guns.A coat of paste wax such as Renaissance Wax is a good follow up.BTW nice model 27.
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If "too aggressive" means applying with a buffing wheel or with a pressed cotton wheel Dremel, you are correct but it will not be the Flitz removing the blue but the wheel, itself.

HOWEVER, when applied with a soft cloth by hand, Flitz will NEVER remove an original blue finish.

It WILL, remove paste blue and touch ups in a heartbeat.

If you start wiping down a blued gun with Flitz to see the rag start turning black ... that's paste blue it is removing. When you're done removing the paste blued areas, what you have remaining will be the original finish. No, 3rd way about it.

Very often guns you think are clean ... don't be surprised or scared if with a light wipe of Flitz the rag comes up light brown ... it is removing the microscopic rust / oxidation. That is perfectly OK and a very good feature about Flitz.
 
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CajunBass said:
I'm another who has never seen any evidence that Flitz will damage a blue finish. I'm sure it will if you really set your mind to it, but I work lightly, slowly, and by hand. I'm trying to polish something, not sand down a tabletop.

I follow up with a coat or two or Ren Wax, but I'm sure some other wax will work just as well.
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I bought a new 29-3 in 1985 that I used Flitz polish on and it completely removed the bluing on one side of the cylinder.Had to send the gun in for a refinish. Neither Flitz nor Smith & Wesson helped me out on this one.I had used it on older revolvers that already had finish wear but had been the Carbona finish and they were fine.Personally I would never trust it on a blued gun I cared about.
 
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As an interesting note to add to my post. My 29-3 four inch barrel had a very low luster blue job , just a step above a model 28. When I asked the factory the cost to have a nice polish done before it got blued I was told it was impossible to be done.The last of the factory polishers had retired by 1982.Any future commemoratives pieces would be contracted outside the factory for nicely polished bluing.
 
model3sw said:
Very often guns you think are clean ... don't be surprised or scared if with a light wipe of Flitz the rag comes up light brown ... it is removing the microscopic rust / oxidation. That is perfectly OK and a very good feature about Flitz.
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This is what came off my 27-7. It has never been fired outside of the factory.

I was really surprised because the polishing cloth was dirtier from the 27-7 than it was from the 27.

I lightly applied the Flitz with my finger and rubbed it lightly then wiped it off with the polishing cloth.





I honestly did not expect either gun to turn out anywhere as nice as they did.

I appreciate your input.
 
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