Help Required with Maco Templates

[Scrit]

I pulled out a couple of Maco templates at the weekend which are a bit neglected and could benefit from some TLC. Has anyone here tried to clean up the profile "teeth" or is this going to drive me insane trying. The teeth are tiny strips of brass and have blackened with age. The two templates are a 9in template and a 6in one:

Scrit

 

[engineer one]

scrit, maybe you should use barkeepers cleaner, or failing that,
brown sauce on the brass, in modelling railways, that is what we use.

paul :wink:

 

[MikeW]

Superb templates, Scrit!

Sure are better built than the inexpensive ones I have used in the past. I have used the cheapies for transfering mouldings I need to reproduce short runs of.

Very nice. Take care, Mike

 

[engineer one]

you mean that's where your saw handles come from mike :lol: :twisted:

and we thought you actually had some tame hand people who modelled
for each handle :lol: :?

paul :wink:

 

[Scrit]

Thanks for the suggestion, Paul. I'll give that a go

Scrit

 

[Alf]

Barkeeper's Friend (which I assume is what you mean, Paul?) is a bit aggressive IMO. Personally if they were mine I'd be looking at them and saying "Mmm, well-earned patina - how nice" and leaving them well alone! :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[engineer one]

well, it's a good excuse to go down the pub and ask where they
get the cleaner :lol: :twisted: :evil:

but certainly either should help, of course then you have the same
problem as with silver, you need to keep doing it, because of
course, you remove the coating that has grown up,
and need to stop the new one forming. never b****y ending.

paul :wink:

 

[engineer one]

you might be right alf, but then it's a good excuse to test out
brown sauces. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Scrit]

Personally if they were mine I'd be looking at them and saying "Mmm, well-earned patina - how nice" and leaving them well alone! :lol:

Ah, but the problem is tyhat they aren't really all that "slidey" any more and the modern template guides simply aren't a patch on these. I tried taking one apart in the past and cleaning it (with Dubbin) - took me 6 weeks to get it back together again..... :?

Scrit

 

[Alf]

Ah, but the problem is tyhat they aren't really all that "slidey" any more

Oh well that's different. Whatever you do you're going to have to take them apart, aren't you? Bloomin' nightmare - rather you than me, and you know what kind of lengths I go to cleaning tools. :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Colin C]

You could try a metal polish with a tooth brush

 

[engineer one]

you're right colin, but of course, then you have to get it all out of the
places where the toothbrush has spread it. :lol: :lol:

paul :wink:

 

[Colin C]

If you use some card to limit where the polish goes, then not so much cleaning :roll: :wink: