Cymbal polishing

plslayer

New member
Hi. I used a dunlop cymbal polish on my Avedis Fast Crash (traditional finish) and it's like rather screwed up, at first it was really black after polishing but after intense rubbing its now like ... just dull coloured. Like a very old dusty cymbal. When i use the polish on my lousy paiste 101s they become nice and shiny. Anybody knows how I can get my Avedis back to looking good?
 
Just for everyone peripheral.

Exerpt of cymbal cleaning :

Brilliant finish:

1) pour MR METAL on it and use magiclean cloth to clean it until you see bronze particles on your cloth. FOLLOW THE GROOOVEEE IMPT!!

2) always use clean sides when polishing.

3) use a orange cloth to take away leftover polishing material.

Reapeat step 1) to 3) for a standard brilliant finish.

Traditional finish:

1) Follow step one as mentioned above.

2) Follow step two as mentioned above.

3) same also

4) Use a sabian cymbal cleaner and wipe it off using orange cloth until desired finish is aquired. If no sabian use zildjian or paiste oso can - i think.

5) reapeat steps if necessary.






ORRRRRRRRRRRR






Cymbal Cleaning but a little different and safer method:

1) Go to your local wet market or Supermarket store and get yourself small lime - those little green balls that is usually served with mee rebus.

2) Wet your cymbal with tap water - reason being to remove all dust particles on your cymbal and to dilute the lime acid that'll be used later.

3) Once the whole surface (top and bottom) has been covered with water, cut the small lime into half and use one side first and squeeze out those lime while maintaining a circular motion until fully covered the surface. (work on the top surface first)

4) Rub away fingermarks and all those nasty stuff and make sure to repeat step 3 with a few small limes until the desired brilliant/traditional finish is acquired.

5) repeat step 3 on the bottom surface.

6) This critical step is to remove all acids on the cymbal. Pour some shampoo (any brand) onto your cymbal and spread it around going in a circular motion.

7) Make sure everything is covered with the shampoo. wait for like 20 seconds then rinse both sides off with tap water till everything is gone and u can see the cymbal is restored and no more shampoo is left.

Use a clean cloth and dry your cymbal.


voila!!! your cymbal is cleaned without the risk of your logos fading... i've tried it on the small scale splashes and it restores it to its formerly brilliant condition.
 
Jamella - nice signature and thanks for keeping it down to around the dimension (178 x 20) ....well done !

Talking about Cymbal Polishing: I didn't polish my Cymbals, cause I'm afraid it will affect the sound nowadays and wording of Brand will fade.
 
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Thanks RD.

Huh!? Polishing affects the sound?
I just bought 4 limes :(

Im just gonna try polish my 101 Paiste heheh.
Even if the logo comes off..
ah..stuff it
 
like i said on the post, lime would NOT EFFECT the sound of the cymbal as it's merely polishing the surface of the metal and does not rub away the surface metal like most cymbal polishing liquids do... don't use brasso or autosol.. it will remove the logos and alter the cymbal sound...

lime in the other hand doesn't do that... just cleans... but make sure to clean it throughly with shampoo and water... if not u'd have spots...
 
Whoops my bad, didnt read thoroughly.

Wow i didnt know cymbal polishing liquids actually corrode(?) the surface.
 
Hmm I think I'll try and buy the Zildjian polish and see...I'll try the lime thing some other time. Heheheh I've got a blackish Avedis now ... looks silvery in light though
 
actually Marc. lime is acidic. thats how you get the cymbal to shine. is the same as cymbal cleaners. they are all solvents. so i wouldnt overdo it with the lime. it WILL remove surface metal as well. and be sure o clean off all residue. or the acid will eat into your cymbal.... dirt can be cleaned off without solvents. a good rub will do. Shine is only restored by removing a layer of surface metal that has oxidised and thus become blackish
 
I've always thought cymbals look better aged, oxidised & patina-ed. Sounds better too. But that's just me.
 
actually Marc. lime is acidic. thats how you get the cymbal to shine. is the same as cymbal cleaners. they are all solvents. so i wouldnt overdo it with the lime. it WILL remove surface metal as well. and be sure o clean off all residue. or the acid will eat into your cymbal.... dirt can be cleaned off without solvents. a good rub will do. Shine is only restored by removing a layer of surface metal that has oxidised and thus become blackish

Waaa heng i was just about to take out my limes and give my cymbals a rub before i saw this
 
cymbal polishers use concentrated acid which's why the sabian/zildjian/paiste ones smells horrible...

whereas lime, it's something u can use for your food because the acidity of it is almost near to the neutral side... so imho, NO HARM DONE...

unless u want ur cymbal logo's to fade, use them sparringly... to clean a cymbal is to clean a little bit on the top...

my friend used the lime method aka jerok nipis on his K custom ride, 3 A custom Crashes and his Mastersound hi-hats.. looks like brand new without the logos faded....

it's up to u jamilah to do it...
 
Well, cymbals aren't the only bronze around, so if you want to know how to clean bronze, there are experts out there who deal with much more expensive bronze objects :)

How to Restore and Polish Brass, Copper and Bronze - an in-depth discussion:
http://www.englishcustompolishing.com/eneu/brasscopper1.html

Bronze care and cleaning:

http://www.finesgallery.com/fines-about-bronze-care.php

A good household general-purpose bronze cleaner can be created. Use salt, vinegar, and flour. Dissolve 1teaspoon of salt into 1 cup of white vinegar. Add enough flour to make a paste. Apply the paste to the bronze and let sit for 15 minutes to 1 hour. Rinse with clean, warm water, and polish dry.

http://www.russianbells.com/founding/bronzecare.html
Paiste users should be extra careful as Paiste cymbals (B8-B15) leave the factory with a coat of lacquer to prevent oxidation/patina. If you use a method which removes this coating, it might shine for awhile, but due to the higher copper content, it will get a redder discolouration and tarnish very unlike what you get on B20 pies. That's why Paiste has their own cleaner that's designed to not remove that coating. Ranking stocks it.
 
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ohhh.. thats a new one... anyways, what other cymbal makers coat their cymbals with lacquer???

i've seen really RED paistes before...
 
hi, hope it's not too late to jump on this thread.

my traditional istanbul mehmet has some horrible fingerprints on it. i think the prev person who handled it had really oily fingers. keep rubbing with a dry cloth but they won't come out.

should i use limes?
 
haha my name's jamilah now ?

I'll hold off my limes just in case

Actually.. to think of it... RED cymbals/hats would be an awesome colour
 
it won't look nice on ur drumstics and the rest of your equiptment...

jamilah jamela jamal abdillah all the same what hahaha... no offence lol



so i learnt something new today... non b20 cymbals are coated with lacquer to keep the shine... :D

paiste signature/new signature uses b15 bronze (secret stuff) which like weck-x said, it has higher copper content... but b8 has a more higher content.. so be careful when polishing b8's , b10's, b12's and b15's cymbals...
 
Jamella ella ella eh eh eh

haha no offence taken.

Imo , Red sticks , Red hihats, wine-red Tama Stagestar = killer look . :-D

I wonder if corroding our cymbals could produce a better sound instead.
Perhaps a more trashy sound due to an uneven surface (correct me if im wrong) :???:
 
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