frontier pads

[Rick Losey]

what to use when cleaning a metal finish is a common question-
and many of us recommend the frontier pads with a solvent

i am cleaning up a particularly cruddy grade 2 that suffered from poor storage- screws are great and there is a lot of case left under the dirt and rust-

these are from the first round of cleaning- and except for a little polishing on the mainspring - this was done with just a frontier pad and Hoppes 9

the top lock after a cleaning -it looked like the bottom one to start notice the case remaining on both
http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=696&pictureid=8169

An inside view - the left lock is slightly worse inside than the right started out - but only slightly
http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=696&pictureid=8167

And a close up- the case washes out some from the flash, but I think you'll get the idea
http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=696&pictureid=8165

And a bright shot to highlight the condition, not the case
http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=696&pictureid=8170

I'll post some final shots when i get the rest of it done, but I hope this helps show what the pads can do


PS we all like our "unturned" screws on Parkers, and I really doubt these locks have been out of this gun since it left Meriden, but look at the picture of the insides of the locks, see the slight damage to the slot of the lower bridle screw on the left -- I DID NOT DO THAT :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
it came that way, really

[Dean Romig]

Rick, did you disassemble the lock mechanisms to facilitate cleaning with the Frontier pads?




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[Rick Losey]

Rick, did you disassemble the lock mechanisms to facilitate cleaning with the Frontier pads?

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Certainly. Down to bare bones. Had to. The tumbler was rusted tight to the hammer. Took liquid wrench to free it. And only one of my spring vises would travel far enough to compress the mainspring to free it, that step always makes me nervous, flattening out an old spring like that

[Dean Romig]

Yeah, I understand that it is not uncommon to have one break as you compress it.





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[William Davis]

For the uninformed like me.

How are Frontier different that Scotch Brite ? I keep Scotch Brite in lot of different grits on hand for general shop work. Fine ones clean nice with no scratching. White one is listed on 3M's spec sheet at 1200-1500 grit equiv.

Is Frontier made out of a different material ? What do you figure the grit rating would be.

William

[Rick Losey]

William

a frontier pad is a twist of metal ribbons, the edge does the cleaning - it is not abbrasive

http://www.exploreproducts.com/big45-frontier-gun-cleaner.htm


here is a detail from the one pic you can see there are no marks on the original surface where it has been cleaned, the original color is not damaged- I personally have not seen a scotch bright that did not leave fine scratches under magnification, i know a lot of folks like them.


I still need to get into the engraving with soft brush

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=696&pictureid=8171

[William Davis]

Thanks

Will order some and see how they go

William

[Dean Romig]

Scotch-Brite pads are abrasive and leave microscopic scratches on the metal.





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[Craig Larter]

I have only used frontier pads once thanks to a recommmendation from Dean. Go slow. Before
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t2/clarter/49402a2x6_zps6yhwgapp.jpg
After
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t2/clarter/DSC_0062_zpsbhdnigyu.jpg
Before
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t2/clarter/49402a2x4_zpstneeety0.jpg
After
http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t2/clarter/DSC_0066_zpsf7wgu2gk.jpg

[Marty Kohler]

Craig ..Assuming the gun was not unassembled ...how did you protect the wood?...Tape....? Cloth tape?...Do you do something special to get close to the wood?

[Craig Larter]

Marty This gun needed very little cleaning so protecting the wood was not an issue. The Frontier pads will not harm wood finish.

[Rick Losey]

left lock is cleaned -

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=696&pictureid=8187


http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=696&pictureid=8190

to confirm my suspicion of poor storage not use

the wood is really pretty clean - the outside of the box has been cleaned - inside is about done (after this pic )

http://parkerguns.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=696&pictureid=8189

[Craig Larter]

Looks really good lots of elbow grease!

[Stephen Hastie]

Them locks are looking really good after cleaning. Should be a real pleasure to use this gun after all the sweat and hard work you are putting in.