Pin Cleaning/Polishing

[ggray]

THIS IS NOT for the squimish!!!

Faced with the dilemma of replacing all of the pins in at least two of my machines, or finding a way to clean/polish them, I did a bit of research.

First of all, I confirmed that the pins in my machines are solid brass and not some cheap brass plate. Since they are solid brass, the methods available allow for a more agressive approach.

There are a number of "home remidies" suggested for cleaning brass so I decided to try a number of them.

Fresh lemon and salt.
Vinegar, salt, and flour mixed into a paste and applied for 1 hour.
Amonia
Amonia, salt
Lemon and baking soda mixed into a paste

The list goes on and on.

Someone even suggested Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner.

The latter is the one that really caught my attention. The active ingredient in the toilet bowl cleaner is Hydrochloric Acid. Now, where can I find a a reasonable suppyl of HCL without buying Toilet Bowl Cleaner?

How about that "dead" car battery I just replaced so I could get to work?

Now, if you are going to try this method, please be aware that you need to be prepared to neutralize the acid within minutes of applying it!

From my bag of "auto repair tricks" I recall that baking soda does a fine job of neutralizing battery acid.

I extracted several ounces of acid from the old battery and proceeded to brush it on to the pins with a soft artist's paint brush. Followed by a liberal brushing of baking soda paste a few minutes later. I followed the proceedure by 'buffing' the pins with a soft terry cloth. The end result was phenomenal!!!

I intend to finish the process by brushing the pins with a very light oil on a nearly dry paint brush to retard future tarnishing.

On a previous thread, someone gave a link to a company that supplies "escutcheon pins". I researched these and found only two sizes that come close to the original. The 16 ga is too small, and it appears to me that a 14 ga would be too large. They did not offer a 15 ga pin. And I removed one of mine and found it to be 1 1/4" long, not 1" as suggested.

When I started this, the pins on my machines were virtually 'black' with tarnish and appeared as though they were originally brass plated but had worn off over the years. Now they are bright and look NEW!


Greg

[Bigdog]

Before and after pictures? Would love to see it.

[luckydog]

brasso and q tips with a polishing cloth would be the safest way to go

[ggray]

Before and after pic's would have been a great idea! Unfortunately, I'm without a brain and forgot to do the B4 pics. I'll try to post some after ones if I can figure out how to attach them. If this works, I apologise for the 'lighting'...I'll try to get some better pic's in better light.

I'm going to try and include some pic's of the 'highlights' I've done on some of the plastics. . . . .I used a simple 'silver leafing' pen I found at a local craft store. Also, I painted the 'crown' inlays inside the tulips white. . .thought that was a good touch.


Greg

[takethecastle57]

Why does the phrase " Danger , Danger Will Robinson !!" come to mind when i hear of people wnting to use ACID near the playfield ? The same goes with using any liquid cleaner the inherent danger of damaging the machine or playfied is still a risk

Try using this instead

Miracle Polishing And Cleaning Cloth . The original Miracle Cloth which has proven to out clean and polish any other product.



It has been working great for me since 2002 and i wish i knew about this cloth when i was in the Army . No must , No fuss and natural stuff inside the cloth just look at the last machine i did in my album .

[celly]

I just cleaned my pins yesterday. A little Nevrdull and some elbow grease, knocked that bad boy out.

.

[henrikc]

Hi,
with a background in chemistry, I can not leave the remark of hydro chloric acid equalled to battery acid alone...sorry.

Hydrochloric acid is rightly used as descaler in toilet bowl cleaners, while battery acid is sulfuric acid. Both are strong mineral acids, which will dissolve metals and therefore "aid" cleaning of metal surfaces...however, if not removed swiftly, may continue to cause corrosion. As hydrochloric acid is also volatile, it may attack other metals in vicinity to the intende use area, while sulfuric will atack almost anything it hits, and leave holes in your clothing if spilled. If any of the products are left behind, they will also promote further discoloration and corrosion with the moisture from the air.

I fully support the use of safer mechanical polishes with a fine grinding ingredient dispersed in an oil/wax based solvent, and trust the polishing of the nail heads are the most important to the viewer of the playfield. The wax/oil left behind as an invisible layer after wiping off the black oxides, will inhibit further oxidation and keep the surface sparkling.


Thanks,
Henrik

[JACKSJE4]

I have restored many vintage machines and have used Blue Magic metal polish ( BlueMagic) to clean the brass pins, as well as all metal parts on the back of the machine. It is inexpensive and easy to find at most auto parts stores, and it does a great job!

On some heavily tarnished machines I have even "buffed" the shine on the pin heads using a Dremmel power tool with a polishing pad (after they were cleaned with the Blue Magic). Boy, they sure sparkled!!

[garfield]

The Dremmel tool did the job for me, though if you try it too, be very careful near to plastic parts. When you accidentally touch plastic with the polishing pad, the plastic will melt straight away due to the friction .

I used strips op the "magic cloth" to shine the pins themselves, that's quite a job by the way.

[Siouxzan]

When all the pins have been removed, is it effective to polish them with a rock tumbler full of walnut media or silica?
Thanks!

[emmadog]

Some very interesting methods to be sure but waaay too much trouble for a simple task IMO. I have also used Blue Magic combined with a microfiber cloth. It literally only takes maybe 10 min. per machine. Put some on the cloth, line up nails in a row even if there's space between them and polish. It gets them about as shiny as I've ever seen any brass plus leaves a coating behind so that they don't dull as fast. I've used brasso and it polishes just as well but the nails tarnish faster.

[Microbus99]

I'll throw another one in there as well as the popular ones you have all listed.

Mr. Metal...It works on all metals. Seems to a little more aggresive then Brasso. I've used the Miracle Cleaning Cloth myself and it takes a little more elbow grease to get the same results. Probably better for maintenance after a major cleaning.

I'll have to try the Blue Magic. That sounds "magical".

I've worked in the Auto Industry a long time and I dont recommend messing with Battery Acid. Not to mention what it does to your clothes if you spill it on yourself.

[JACKSJE4]

I use Blue Magic for just about all metal surfaces, and occasionally the Miracle Cloth. I agree with Microbus that the cloth takes a little more elbow grease to use, but you can't beat the nice coconut aroma it leaves behind!

Blue Magic was designed for mag wheels and aluminum rims and is sold at the auto parts store, but does a fantastic job on the brass pins and any other metal parts in a Pachinko machine. And like emmadog says, it helps prevent the pins from tarnishing right away.

[Siouxzan]

Some very interesting methods to be sure but waaay too much trouble for a simple task IMO.

Sorry, I probably wasn't clear. The nails are coming out anyway, so I thought it might be possible to tumble them, rather than polishing each one (heads and shafts) by hand.

Thanks!

[Microbus99]

Sorry, I probably wasn't clear. The nails are coming out anyway, so I thought it might be possible to tumble them, rather than polishing each one (heads and shafts) by hand.

Thanks!

Tumbling is definitely the way to go if you've already pulled them but I think a majority of owners arent going to go that far.

[emmadog]

yep tumbling is the way to go as far as ease. i woulda tumbled my nails when i redid my power flash but i didn't have my tumbler yet. that polishes the whole nail obviously but in the end the shaft is gonna be an ordeal to keep polished once the nail is remounted.

[takethecastle57]

Non-Toxic solution


Amazon.com: Miracle Cloth All Purpose Metal Sword Cleaning Towel: Sports & Outdoors

[MrGneiss]

I think there have been some pics posted of nails that were tumbled...very shiny if I remember correctly!!

[takethecastle57]

Cabela's Case Tumbler Kit

[takethecastle57]

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices