back alley
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Ash said:So how do I get the bright marks off the top of my M2?
gaffer's tape
mjflory
Accumulator
Like Graybeard, I've had very good luck using an ammonia-based window cleaner (Windex in the US) to remove accumulated grime. But I had a surprise using it on Vulcanite. Recently I yielded to a longstanding temptation and bought a rather dirty M3. The grimy knobs, etc., cleaned up nicely with Windex and a toothbrush, but when I cleaned the Vulcanite with a Windex-soaked paper towel, the towel turned black! Vulcanite is rubber that's been heat-treated with the addition of sulphur and, at least on Leicas, some additional coloring (carbon powder?). Clearly more than grime and smoke were being removed.
The vulcanite was slightly dulled, but I used a little carnauba-based wood wax on it (Butcher's Bowling Alley wax, which I'd bought for restoring a piece of Japanese lacquer) and it looks and feels quite fresh now. I'm hoping some of the ammonia that was probably left even after I water-wiped it off will buffer any slight acidity in the carnauba; restorers of vulcanite pipe stems apparently use a neutral-pH wax to avoid this.
-- Michael
The vulcanite was slightly dulled, but I used a little carnauba-based wood wax on it (Butcher's Bowling Alley wax, which I'd bought for restoring a piece of Japanese lacquer) and it looks and feels quite fresh now. I'm hoping some of the ammonia that was probably left even after I water-wiped it off will buffer any slight acidity in the carnauba; restorers of vulcanite pipe stems apparently use a neutral-pH wax to avoid this.
-- Michael