Repairing scratched chrome on E61 grouphead

[shadowfax]

any advice for taking out a scratch on the E61 grouphead? I have a pretty bad one. It's not down to the brass, but it's about as deep, it seems, as you can go and not be through the chrome. I have given it up for dead, and resorted to just being annoyed every time I look at Vetrano...

[HB]

You can try Wenol metal polish:


Red for general polish and then Blue for a high gloss finish

If it's really deep, rechroming may be the only option, though I would let a professional try buffing first. They removed lots of minor scratches from Steve's brightwork. He had the grouphead of his Olympia Cremina rechromed because it had deep scratches on the yoke. Steve was unable to find a chrome plater whose work was certified for direct food contact, so he had it plated in nickel instead. The coloration is slightly different, but it works for a vintage restoration.



Below is the "before" photo:

[CafSuperCharged]

a vintage restoration

Interestingly it comes with a remote control now?

regards
Peter

[mhoy]

I put some red Wenol on a polishing head from my dremel last night and went to town on the hidden cover over the electronics. I was able to smooth out a noticable scratch, in some light the scratch disappears. It also eventually cleaned off some hard water staining on another section that citric acid would not touch. It did leave me with slight polish marks since it's not a random orbit kind of polisher. It points out that I need to get a felt pad for my random orbital sander.

Mark

[cannonfodder]

One of my other hobbies is restoring vintage straight razors so I do a bit of metal work. Unfortunately, scratched chrome is pretty much unfixable. You have a chromium top coat with a nickel base on brass. To buff out a scratch that goes to the brass, you will have to rechrome.

[JimWright]

Is the body of a GS/3 chrome, polished stainless, or ...? Hoping for something to try and take out this:

[cannonfodder]

It is polished Stainless Steel.

[JimWright]

Thanks Dave.

Anyone have any luck using polishing products to get not-terribly-deep scratches out of stainless without a power buffing tool?

[cannonfodder]

Nope. When I am restoring an old vintage, tarnished, pitted blade, I use a wet sand progression, 400, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 and then micromesh if I am shooting for a mirror finish, then white rouge, red rouge and a metal polish like MAAS on a bench buffing machine. On a big hunk of stainless like a GS3 body that would be a major job. If it is just a light scratch, just use metal polish. It will not remove the scratch but may minimize its appearance.