I found this BQ this week on Craigslist for $25 3.5 hour bath and fettle...Voila! The shade holder is not original
3.5 hour bath in what? I'd always understood that once oxidised, nickel was very difficult to re-polish. I'd be more than happy if I could get all my nickel-plated lanterns back to that standard...
Hi David, On the nickel plating I use white vinegar. The fount and arm soaked room temperature for about 40 minutes and then lightly wiped with #0000 steel wool as I removed it from the bath. The rest of the parts I heated the vinegar & stayed in a bit longer. Heating the vinegar excels the cleaning process. Depending on the degree of dirt, grime, tarnish will determine time & heat factor. I did not want to be too aggressive, figuring I can always clean more but cannot put the nickle back. After the vinegar bath I clean with a mild dish soap, rinse dry and then polish with "Mothers" Mag & Aluminum polish & buff www.mothers.com
David, Quite a few I have done started in very poor shape and cleaned up the best. The grime, bird poop, tarnish actually help preserve, I imagine. Some came not so bad and had a hard time getting them to shine. I have noticed that sometimes I end up with a "cloudy" nickel that doesn't get the good shine after a polish and sometime it is "Mirror-like" finish. I do not use a machine buffer for polishing. I always use hand polishing
If you what to do to let it shine, so it is no problem. But if yo don't know what to do, you will have a problem Well done
