Cleaning/Polishing the Ball Tray

[Habious]

Howdy folks.

First-time poster here.

I inherited a Nishijin B (thanks to the Sticky, I know this!) from my father. No idea when/where he got it but, it's from around 1974 (thanks to the Sticky, I know this!).

Here's my question...

The main ball tray (where the balls reside, ready to be flung into the play field with reckless abandon) on mine is a dull metal. Looks like tarnished pewter. I've taken some Brasso to it and it's made it a little better. The balls certainly flow a lot better once I got the first major layer of gunk off of it.

However, the ones I see on here in the "restored" pics, are all mirror-like shiny.

If I polish hard enough, will I find that shine underneath all the gunk in mine? Or, should I just shoot for "clean"?

So far, the only thing I've used is Brasso and a microfiber polishing cloth for a few minutes.

Should I step up to a polishing wheel on a Dremel or Makita? Is there a different cleaning/polishing product I should use to really make the part shine?

I've read the Sticky on cleaning/restoring (I'm a good little forum user; I read ALL of the Stickies), but while it mentions several metal-cleaning products, it doesn't specifically say "Use *this* on *that*".

And yes, I know pics would help. I can/will post more when I take them...but here's one I took right after I got it mounted on the wall (the drywall dust is still visible on the floor!) I had the basic idea for a wall-mount in my head before I found this forum but, thanks to all the great threads, I was able to improve my design (used a piano hinge between the machine and my frame, used a french cleat to mount it to the wall, etc).

[JACKSJE4]

Welcome to the forum and to the hobby!

I have had pretty good results cleaning the dull metal ashtrays using a combination of steel wool (start with #1, then #00, then #0000), wire brush and buffing wheel on a Dremmel, and Blue Magic Metal Polish. I spend, on average, 1-2 hours on just the ashtray, as it take a huge amount of elbow grease to get a shine on that cheap, lead-based metal.

That being said, you could probably apply the same ideas to the ball tray. Just be careful when using a rotary tool on a surface that large. If you aren't careful you will end up with permanant swirls in the finish. I would try the steel wool and metal polish first and only use the rotarty tool as a very last resort. Be patient and plan 2-3 hours to get that metal shined up. It takes time and patience, but should eventually shine.

Jeff

P.S. - make sure you use gloves when handling the steel wool. I rubbed the skin off my fingers the first time I used the wool and was hating life for nearly a week.

[dattia]

Welcome to PachiTalk!

I'm glad that you learned a thing or two about your machine during your visit. Since there is very little printed information available for these games, most of the information here was garnered by trial and error and the sharing of those results. We have a pretty good group of vintage enthusiasts here that are more than willing to share their Do's and Don'ts regarding repairs and restorations.

How nice that you have a machine with sentimental value... most get their machines from Craigslist and ebay with little or no information about the history. Can't wait to see close up pics of your vinatge...and of course, an 'after' shot if you do decide to take on this project.

[yose]

Welcome to pachitalk

[Drunkenclam]

Welcome Aboard

[hanabi]

Welcome to PachiTalk!!

As you have already found, there is a lot of very useful information here, not only in the past threads / posts, but also from the friendly members, who are always happy to share their knowledge and advice

and I too look forward to following the progress of the cleaning / restoration of your Vintage

[pinball wizard]

[Moparformances]

Welcome to Pachitalk

Nice Pachinko

[emmadog]

Back in the day I used to do a lot of waterfowl hunting, still do when I get the chance. I practically lived in the marsh. Think "Swamp People", I know scary. Anyway an old timer gunsmith told me a trick about removing rust and crud from inside barrels. All you do is take a pocket knife and make some slits/cut marks perpendicular to the long axis of a wooden dowel. Then wrap 0000 steel wool around that and chuck the other end of the dowel in a drill and polish away.
I do a similar version now except I use a flex shaft on my dremel and it works like a charm. 0000 steel wool is my first choice for any kind of metal polishing on larger pieces or things that won't fit in my tumbler.

[Bat]

The steel wool trick with a drill mentioned above works great. I have been doing that for years. It really saves a lot of time and elbow grease.Lokking forward to seeing your results

[takethecastle57]

Amazon.com: 4 3/8 X 5 1/2 Synthetic Steel Woll Pad (Super Fine): Home Improvement
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YouTube - Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Karn Evil 9 with lyrics
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Amazon.com: Tools & Home Improvement, synthetic steel wool Home Improvement

[H20Dreams]

~~~Welcome to PachiTalk~~~

[WOEII]

Makes things all brand new again!
http://www.pachitalk.com/forums/pach...ine-again.html