A friend of mine has a RICH AND TAYLOR banjo and the metal parts are tarnished/corrosion. How can it be cleaned or even replated?
Gold, Nickel, and Chrome should be cleaned differently so you need to first determine what the metal is, or is not. Many like the look of a somewhat 'aged,' banjo as well if the tarnish is not so bad that the part is damaged. Also, if it is damaged a new part might be more advisable than replating based on the metal itself and the particular piece itself.
Bobby
Edited by - BobbyE on 05/12/2025 08:20:03
Ful cleaning requires full disassembly. With all the parts accessible, start with a slightly damp soft cloth. Ripped up old whit cotton T-shirts are great. I buy the same thing as boxes of rags at the hardware store. They don't always have them.
Anyway, point is to use a light touch to see what you're dealing with. All on the surface or plating gone and underlying steel going dark?
For surface-level tarnish or light corrosion on nickel pr chrome, I use Simichrome polish. There are folks who say never to use any polish because all polishes are abrasive to some extent and can remove plating. That may be true. But even Stelling recommended Simichrome. I think one use in the life of a banjo is safe.
I apply with a very soft, worn out toothbrush, then wipe with the soft cloth. This is usually it takes.
If plating is already gone and the metal can't be brightened, I believe new parts would be a lot more practical than replating -- unless these are gold, in which case I'd probably go with plating since gold parts are becoming harder to obtain.
Do not use Simichrome on gold.
Edited by - Old Hickory on 05/12/2025 09:40:43
Before you rub off the plating with abrasive paste "Simichrome polish" (which is abrasive despite non abrasive claims) you should determine why the tarnish happened in the first place.
Excessive humidity? Exposure to chemical vapor or plastic outgassing? Exposure to celluloid deterioration and outgassing? Regular exposure to sea air/salt? Excessive sweat and skin oil left on the metal?
Hand creams, sunblock, bug spray repellent, aftershave, and cologne can also tarnish metal and soften wood finishes.
Tanned (oil and veg) leather will cause verdigris and eat right through plating if left to contact the metal. I suppose tanned leather could also outgas depending on what it was treated with.
quote:
Originally posted by decorah818A friend of mine has a RICH AND TAYLOR banjo and the metal parts are tarnished/corrosion. How can it be cleaned or even replated?
In my experience, you can greatly improve tarnished plated parts by polishing.
And yet, I've found it's also very difficult to make them "perfect" again by polishing. If you want that perfect, flawless finish, purchasing new parts or replating are really your only choices.
So I'd start with polishing, and see if you can get it to an acceptable appearance. If not, then you really haven't lost anything (other than some time, some elbow grease, and a few dollars for polish) as you can then step up to replating / replacing.
Just do as little as possible, put it back together and just play it.
Over, and over, again.
Edited by - Eric A on 05/12/2025 11:23:04
I’d just wipe down and continue playing. I like the wore played in look myself.
If it don’t come off with a soft cloth and warm water with a tiny amount of dish soap, then don’t worry about it.
You can do more harm to an instrument when you polish it, than any amount of dust could ever do.
If the instrument is gold plated, don’t even look at it. That playing is so thin, rubbing it with a soft dry cloth can take the finish off.
If you can post pictures, you might get some more specific advice on how to deal with the condition of this exact banjo.
There are many degrees of tarnished and it's hard to know which applies.
I've fine-tuned my back-up banjo (the Bob French "Fox" I won at a BMAM jam/raffle a few years ago) so that I can dismantle my Cox/Gibson tb-2 conversion for full polishing.
I've spot polished it intact since '99,but I'm going full tear-down and taking the parts to my neighbor's big cloth buffer that she uses for keeping her wood carving chisels at the ready.
I'll use a tiny bit of rouge or green if things get too stubborn.
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Originally posted by lightgaugeI have used this on multiple tarnished nickel plated banjos with excellent results. Yes, it says aluminum on it, but I talked with the owner who formulated/makes it and he recommended for this use.
It says "UNCOATED ALUMINUM". Banjos (which are not cars or auto wheels) are typically made of nickel plated brass which is a "coated" metal.
Polishes, all of them, are an abrasive powder suspended in (usually) petroleum based solvents. One smears on the paste, the solvents evaporate, the abrasive power with some oil or grease (to lubricate the abrasive powder) is left on the surface. A cloth is then used to 'buff' the metal. The cloth picks up the abrasive powder and acts as a very fine sandpaper. The cloth turns black-- that is the nickel plating that was formally bonded to the banjo parts.
The more plating you remove, the more you have to "polish" as there is less protection for the base metal. Eventually you will cut through the plating.
On antique or "classic era" banjos, this plating is very thin. The rims were constructed of "German silver" that was nickel plated. When one "polishes" these rims it is impossible to tell when you cut through the plating as the base metal is also nickel. It becomes pretty evident as the exposed base metal tarnishes patchy.
I am not a chemist and have no disagreement. Having used Semichrome and a once recommended cymbal cleaner, this is my choice. I am always open to a better option. It seems to me that heavy tarnish itself deteriorates plating if left alone. I think mine usually go 12-15 years between polishing.
@Joel Hooks
So much bad advise here. Just use dish soap and water. Ignore all those who are recommending various polishing agents, which invariably damage the plating.
It takes not being heavy handed to do a good polishing job on anything.
When you wax and polish a car do you burn through the paint?
Paint is softer than nickel or chrome plating.
A little common sense goes a long way.
