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Buffing key-work that's become cloudy ..Is it a good idea?

I realize that this is something of a subjective question to which a concrete answer is probably impossible . Buffing naturally removes some of the plating , which is a bad thing .
But it seems to me that a corroded surface is more prone to suffer heightened corrosion due to its increased surface area on the microscopic level .

Does anybody have any thoughts or guidelines on this matter ?

Thanks . Julian
 
I've found "cloudy" keywork is simply incompleted polishing if it has gone through some polishing already. Or just keywork that is starting to tarnish. Even nickel keywork will start to tarnish and may become cloudy.

In my videos I have on my YouTube channel I mention this.
If you hand polish your keywork with a polishing compound you may find your keywork is cloudy.
If you polish it some more, it will disappear (not the keywork, the cloudiness).

I've polished ppls keywork in the past that is cloudy and was able to bring it to a shine.
If you use a (buffing wheel compound) jewelers rouge (such as "white diamond") after one or two other steps of polishing of less polishing compounds such as red rouge, then you'll be able to get rid of the cloudy aspect of it.

If you do it by hand with a paste (like Flitz or semichrome polish) it may take several rounds of polishing. This is the part people don't like ... "several rounds of polishing, not just one"
 
That cloudiness on the nickel plating if definitly tarnish ! And the silver plating tarnishes too . A lot of the bass clarinets I saw on eBay looked like they had been dragged out of some lake . Crome would be the ideal plating were it not for the fact that it's brittle and doesn't permit bending without fracturing .

I just tried the Dremmel with its little polishing wheel and I think it's a good polishing option between the labor of hand polishing and somewhat brutal bench polishing wheel which can easily strip the plating off hard edges and send a key rocketing off ( I always lay a blanket down because this WILL happen !)

I guess my question was based on my paranoia of buffing and wearing through the plating in doing so.....but that's something everybody has to decide for themselves .

My wife has an old student Boosey & Hawks Bb clarinet and the quality of its nickel plating is remarkable ....it still looks like new !
Clearly all plating is not equal !

Thank you for your reply Steve .
 
Based upon your "brutal" statement I would think your bench buffing wheel is rotating too fast, and probably too hard compressed buffing material.

Truthfully, for me, hand polishing is a lot easier and faster than using a dremel.
This video I show hand polishing with the keys on the instrument ==>
 
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I very lightly buff silver plated keys using Music Medic's "blue hubble" on a soft buffing wheel in my bench motor. Nickel plated keys that are cloudy or blemished are buffed more "aggressively" using the same method. These are before and after pictures of keys from a nickel plated Cannonball alto I overhauled for a friend, that I polished using this method.

1647791100190.jpeg
1647791150656.jpeg
 
Thank you both for your tips and input on this subject .
Sorry for my tardy acknowledgment .

Yes !... I think that my bench polisher is too heavy for this kind of work !
 
I use a Dremel with a felt buffing wheel and white polishing compound. Cleaning and polishing the keywork on a clarinet takes me about half an hour. I guard against the disappearing key syndrome by clipping a length of fishing line to the part with a safety pin. Even if it does make a break for freedom the line reels it back in.
 
I realize that this is something of a subjective question to which a concrete answer is probably impossible . Buffing naturally removes some of the plating , which is a bad thing .
But it seems to me that a corroded surface is more prone to suffer heightened corrosion due to its increased surface area on the microscopic level .

Does anybody have any thoughts or guidelines on this matter ?
You are correct that this is somewhat of a subjective question and that there is no one definitive answer. However, in general, removing corrosion from a surface can help to slow or prevent further corrosion from occurring.

Corrosion occurs when a metal is exposed to oxygen and water or other chemicals, which can cause the metal to degrade over time. This process is often accelerated by the presence of rust or other forms of corrosion, which can create an increased surface area for further corrosion to take place.

Buffing can help to remove this corrosion and create a smoother surface that is less prone to further damage. However, it is important to note that buffing can also remove some of the plating from the metal, which can make it more vulnerable to future corrosion.
 
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