How to keep the legs on my steel shiny.

[Jerry Knapper]

I have an older 12 string pedal steel with standard mic stand type legs. They tarnish as if handled. I polish them with mother's mag polish or semichrome polish and they look like new. Then without touching them, in about a week, they look like the shine is gone again and they are dull again like someone has put their fingers all over them. I live in central Florida and the steel is always in an air-conditioned environment. Can anyone tell me if it is possible to restore the shine without having to have them re-chromed or having to repolish them every few days?

[Erv Niehaus]

It sounds like the chrome is getting thin, otherwise chrome shouldn't tarnish like that.

[Philip Mitrakos]

After you polish them use Wax , car paste wax , car spray wax ,

[Jerry Overstreet]

...or you could do what I did. Buy some shrink wrap tubing and cover them up. No bling, but no further maintenance needed either.

shrk.jpg

[Dave Diehl]

I wouldn't recommend the wax. I tried that once and the legs looked great but when I tried to pick the guitar up out of the case by two legs, my hands kept sliding down making it very difficult to lift it out without dropping it.

[Donny Hinson]

Polish them, wipe them down with alcohol, and then spray with clear lacquer! (outside tubes only)
Remember to not get spray on the threads or the collars; mask those areas first.

Hang them up using a long piece of string tied around the threads, "spin" them by turning (twisting them 30 or 40 times), and spray them while they are spinning (un-twisting). I've used this method on everything from knobs and gumball machines, to lamps and vases. Works great on anything round, or nearly so, and gives a very even finish!

[Richard Sinkler]

I was going to suggest lacquer like Donny did. When I worked for metal finishing company, we had a customer that we chrome plated parts in the plant I scheduled jobs in, and then went to our main plant on the next block. That's where the paint shop was. They lacquered the parts with a lacquer that resisted fingerprints. I don't know what the lacquer was, but we used it a lot, especially on brass and nickel plated (which will tarnish, chrome should not) parts.

[John Hyland]

I wonder how well clear finish might work on aluminium as is usually needs an etch primer when painting.