Old Hot Water Cylinders?

B

Brigade77

Snatched an old copper hot water cylinder of my Son's refurb job & now that I'm retired, locked down, bored & totally useless I thought I'd have a crack at making one of those whirlygig wind spinners that I've always been reluctant to pay for.

Cut the cylinder up easy enuff & it seems to be made of mostly 0.9mm sheet, which is ideal for what I want.

So how do you polish this copper?

I've tried everything & yet nothing seems to bring it to a shine. Is it a copper alloy???
 
Sponsored Links
I guess it depends on what polishing medium you have used so far?
One of the best polishing compounds is Solvol Autosol, but if the copper is scratched then you may have to go through the fine grades of wet and dry paper.
Jewellers rouge is another, but best used with a mechanical polisher.
John :)
 
Yep, done that. Nothing seems able to bring it to a shiny copper ?
 
Curious - even if there was an alloy involved, polishing shouldn't affect things to any degree..
Have you tried wet and dry paper down to the metal? Just wondering if the cylinder was foam coated which has left a deposit.
John :)
 
Sponsored Links
You need to sand it back first using fine graded so it's shiny then polish
 
If it is really bad I'd start with wire wool rather than sandpaper which will scratch the soft metal. For tarnish you can use Solvol or similar, but on a nylon scouring pad rather than a cotton rag.

sometimes they are sprayed with a paint that's roughly copper coloured, so you'd have to get that off first.
 
I have a modified bench grinder with 2x 6" polishing wheels & 5 types of soap, 3 different grades of wire wool & wet n dry paper from 120 to 3000. Still I cannot get this to shine.


*Please don't use steel wire wool to polish soft copper, little bits of steel get embedded in the copper & eventually rust . . . .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Sponsored Links

Similar threads

H
Replacing hot water cylinder
Replies
3
Views
1K
hem852
H
W
replace hot water cylinder
Replies
12
Views
1K
Agile
Agile
S
Vented hot water cylinder replacement.
Replies
14
Views
2K
PEDANTICVINDICTIVEMAN
PEDANTICVINDICTIVEMAN
N
Unvented Hot water cylinder instalation
2
Replies
21
Views
2K
North
N
N
Hot water cylinder
2 3
Replies
42
Views
2K
NewhouseOldhouse
N
Back
Top