Quick spray cleaner & protectant

[GURU1911]

Recently made this discovery & wanted to share with forum members:

Have a old blued colt python, that was slighly dusty & needed a quick wipe-down. Grabbed a bottle of "meguire's ultimate detailer" spray from my supply shelf. Lightly sprayed the frame & cylinder & let it sit for about 30 seconds. Used a clean cotton cleaning patch and gave all surfaces a firm wipe. Then used a clean terry cloth towel for a brisk final wipe-down. Wow---talk about a clean, shiny, & slick surface appearance. About 12 hours later, gave it another wipe with the same towel. Surface is very slick to the touch.

Did the same thing to a smith model 29 after detail polishing the metal surfaces with flitz metal polish---omg, the results were spectacular.

Glad to spread the word for another use of a product that works well on my personal vehicles.

[James K]

No matter what they claim, those metal polishes are abrasive and will eventually remove bluing. They do a good job on stainless steel, though.

Jim

[Scorch]

Meguiar's Ultimate Detailer is an alcohol-borne polymer, and will leave a protective coating on the metal. Probably won't hurt it at all, kinda like waxing it.

The Flitz is a different issue, and will eventually wear through the bluing (bluing is only a few molecules deep).

[GURU1911]

I only use the flitz polish about every 3-5 years on blued finishes. I then apply a thin coat of "meguire's liquid clear-coat carnuba" & let it dry to a haze, then buff with cotton towel. On top of that goes the "meg ultimate detail spray". For the next few years, the detail spray is really all that is necessary to maintain that "spit shine finish" on my firearms.

I have been using flitz metal paste since the mid 1970's & was totally unaware it was abrasive. What about maas, simichrome, wenol, or any of the other metal products---are they abrasive also ?????

Thanks guru1911

[Scorch]

Yes, most contain talc, an extremely fine abrasive.

[GURU1911]

Wow that is news to me---how did you discover that "talc" was the abrasive the manufacturers use in their products ????

[Horseman]

Most spray waxes are fine on metal parts like guns. Been using them on bikes, guns, tools for years. It's really good on tools in the garage since they don't attract dust as much as an oil would. Adds slight lubricity too. It's all I use on my benchrest adjustment screws.

[ClydeFrog]

I'll keep it "old school" and stick with regular CLPs like Mpro7's LPX, Eezox, Weaponshield, Gunzilla & "the bee's knees"; Ballistol.

ClydeFrog

[Wildalaska]

Ballistol

WilditsevencheaperAlaska ™©2002-2011

[Unclenick]

GURU1911,

Any polish you put on a white cloth that turns gray or black when you rub it against metal is removing metal. The black color is light being absorbed by metal particles on edge that have spaces over a 1/4 wavelength (of light) between them, but less than a wavelength or that reflect them in underneath others. It makes a kind of light trap.

Rub Flitz or Maas or Gunbrite or whatever on brass and copper. When you hold the resulting black patch in sunlight at the right angle, you can actually make out a little brass and copper color, respectively, proving the metal has been removed. The cream-colored formulations are using cerium oxide as the abrasive. It's often used as the final polish for telescope mirrors before they are aluminized for reflection. It's very fine and it doesn't remove much material but it does take some. I don't know what the blue abrasive is, but you find it in Dico stainless steel grade buffing compound, too (a great polish for hardened carbon steel, BTW).

I got into a disagreement about this on another forum one time. The literature with Flitz says that it's non-abrasive, but I could see the metal coloring, so I called the maker. The gal answering phones repeated that it was non-abrasive, straight out of the literature, so I talked another lady higher-up in the pecking order. When she told me it was non-abrasive and I explained what I saw, she said, "well, maybe it's slightly abrasive, but not enough that most people count it".

Subsequently I found, at least in the optical arena, that abrasives are treated as distinct from polishes and there are even some complicated theories that suggest polishes work by somewhat different mechanisms in some instances, such that they may smear and displace rather than remove some materials, so they just don't call them abrasives. That's the out that Flitz and the other brands depend on. But the bottom line is that, at least for metal you can see removed metal on the cloth.

[GURU1911]

You write as someone who has a professional background in engineering. I appreciate what you wrote on this forum regarding the use of metal polishing paste products----never heard things expressed quite like you did. My original intent was to simply pass on my experience with the "meguire's ultimate detail spray" to the readers of the "smithy forum".

Thanks again for your input. I vote we put this thread to bed !!!!!

Keep them in the 10-ring.

Guru1911