Flitz

[DARE]

Have had Flitz recommended to me for my nickel triple-lock. Has some finish issues, and is of course more than 100 years old.
Does Flitz have more than one product? Here is a pic of the gun and the Flitz.
Is this the right stuff?

 

[Vtgw938]

That is the stuff I use. Not sure it will help on the missing plating. Attached are pics of a 357 Magnum that I first bathed in Metal Rescue and than polished with Flitz. You have to disassemble the gun to use the Metal Rescue and don't do blued or case hardened parts. It will remove all rust eventually even if there is loose plating on top of it.

 

[rockquarry]

With missing plating, a soft lightly oiled cloth would probably work better.

 

[chief38]

With missing plating, a soft lightly oiled cloth would probably work better.

I have some experience with this. Flitz will polish the raw metal so shinny it will look like and blend in with the Nickel. An oil cloth will do nothing for the aesthetics and will not remove dark spots. BTW, by polishing the metal to a nice shinny finish it will become rust resistant as you will remove the little nooks and cranny's for rust to start.

Here's a little trick I have used with GREAT success! I have had to replace a few screws and parts on a Nickeled I/J Frame Chief's Special that I could not find Nickeled parts and screws for. I took blued parts from another similar revolver, removed the bluing completely and polished them with a felt wheel on my Fordham moto-tool and Flitz. You would NEVER be able to spot the raw metal and highly polished parts. In 15 years there has been zero rust.

I have complete faith in using Flitz to make dark spots on Nickel look like it was repaired. HIINT: use a very slow speed with the moto-tool, felt wheel and Flitz. You do not want to create heat and make the peeling worse.

 

[austintexas]

I've had good results with Flitz. If you take your time you can polish bare metal to look almost like Nickel. I've taken some old black power guns with bad nickel and made them look almost like new, (lots of slow hand polishing).
SWCA 892
PS, I have a bottle of polish that is finer than Flitz I also use. It takes longer but the out come is usually great. I got it from a automolbile restorer that used it on plated metal on old cars. It was called "Way 2EZ polish"

 

[Racer X]

OK, this has to be said. Flitz polish, the original stuff, regardless of how Flitz chooses to market it, is abrasive. Don't take my word for it. https://store-imlukvc.mybigcommerce...al Fiberglass Plastic Paint Polish_US SDS.pdf bottom of page 1 aluminum oxide. you know, aluminum oxide sandpaper? Norton AlOx paper? lapidary polish? ceramic crock sticks? Lansky sharpening sticks? trigger honing stones?

Will it cause damage, maybe, maybe not. Up to you.

 

[stansdds]

Flitz is a polish, all polishes are abrasive to some degree, that's how polish works. Flitz and Semi-chrome contain fine grain aluminum oxide as the abrasive, making them good for polishing metal, but too abrasive for plastics or painted surfaces.

I will not recommend using a motorized tool for polishing a firearm, too easy to flatten curved surfaces or dish flat surfaces. I recommend a soft cloth, an old T-shirt works well, and hand polishing. The idea is to remove oxidation from the surface of the nickel and to remove the dark patina from the exposed steel, not to remove the nickel or alter any shapes.

After polishing, protect all of the surfaces from oxidation and corrosion by coating with a thin layer of oil or wax. For waxing, you can use pure Carnuba automotive wax, Johnson's paste floor wax, or Renaissance Wax.

 

[chief38]

Flitz is a polish, all polishes are abrasive to some degree, that's how polish works. Flitz and Semi-chrome contain fine grain aluminum oxide as the abrasive, making them good for polishing metal, but too abrasive for plastics or painted surfaces.

I will not recommend using a motorized tool for polishing a firearm, too easy to flatten curved surfaces or dish flat surfaces. I recommend a soft cloth, an old T-shirt works well, and hand polishing. The idea is to remove oxidation from the surface of the nickel and to remove the dark patina from the exposed steel, not to remove the nickel or alter any shapes.

After polishing, protect all of the surfaces from oxidation and corrosion by coating with a thin layer of oil or wax. For waxing, you can use pure Carnuba automotive wax, Johnson's paste floor wax, or Renaissance Wax.

I would never use a motorized tool for general polishing on a firearm either. What I was referring to is to use the tool to polish only the dark spots with the smallest flannel wheel on a slow speed. That is the only way to make small dark spots "disappear". If I came across as using the moto-tool for the entire gun I did not explain myself clearly. I only do small parts or specific areas that have lost their Nickel and are dark. If done carefully it works very very well.

As a general improvement on an old beat up Nickel gun, a light polish with a microfiber cloth and Flitz can be done by hand. As I have said in the past I would only do this by hand and only recommend doing this one time.

If I have the time later I will dig out my Dad's 1951-1952 I/J frame Chief's Special that was in need of some replacement parts in which I used blued parts as replacements. I striped off the blue and polished them with Flitz in the manner described. I polished the rest of the revolver with a microfiber rag by hand. It helped greatly and after 15 years there is still no rust and most people would not be able to pick out the formerly blued parts.