You CAN find "five ought" , "00000" , steel wool . I have bought it in hardware stores .
If I mention it to several people , chances are that about 1/4 of them are going to tell me that it does not exist . Some others will say they use it themselves , and know all about it , and wonder why I would even mention it .
Plus , if you are going to use steel wool , learn how to UNROLL it !! Again , some people will look at me as if I'm crazy for suggesting such a bizarre idea - while others will think this is such common knowledge that there is no need to mention it . Steel wool ; the stuff works so very much better , and you are so much less likely to damage what you are working on , if you will simply , but carefully , unroll those little rolls it comes in !! You'll find it so much easier to make layers , without any lumps , if you unroll the stuff , tear off just the right size and shape , then fold it into just the right number of layers , and the best size for what you're doing .
My polishing routine :
1.) Carefully , skillfully , with practice ahead of time ( on scrap metal if needed ) , use a fine , high-quality , file . If you don't have two or three very fine , small , "Swiss Pattern" , or cross-hatched , metal files , think about investing in some . I inherited a small number of my father's "Riffler Files" , which he used for silversmithing . Now those are cool to work with ! Oh , and learn how to clean your files , as you use them . A tiny lump of metal , caught in the teeth of the file , can really put some bad scratches into whatever you are trying to smooth !
2.) Carefully , skillfully , use fine abrasive paper or cloth . Very fine aluminum oxide cloth will do a better job than cheap "sand-paper" . By the way , if you don't know what "Crocus Cloth" is , it's worth learning about ! But mostly it is the patience , and the gentleness , of the person that counts .
3.) Then comes the steel wool , perhaps something like "triple ought" , "000" , to start with .
4.) Then comes the very finest steel wool , "00000" . I always use the "five ought" steel wool with some Simichrome polish . I make a pad of two or four layers of folded paper towel , then perhaps two layers of "00000" steel wool , then some Simichrome polish . Use it carefully . And before that whole thing becomes too much of a mess , throw it away ! Start again with fresh paper towels , fresh steel wool , and fresh polish .
5.) The next step is to use just Simichrome , and paper towels . At this point , the quality of your paper towels becomes important . Use the high-quality , soft to the touch , soft and smooth , paper towels ! Or use CLEAN polishing cloth !
6.) And the final step is to use the softest of paper towels , or soft clean cloth , to polish away any remaining Simichrome . The Simichrome does leave behind some trace of some sort of protective film . But you will need to polish away what you can , to bring up the truly "mirror-bright" shine .
And , if I were working on something as fine and rare as the shell of an ASC , I'd give it a light polishing with some "00000" steel wool , and some Simichrome polish , first ! Then , take a long careful look at it , to see if anything more abrasive would really be a good idea at all . For really bad pitting and corrosion , perhaps some very-fine aluminum oxide cloth , followed by the "000" steel wool , etc . But remember , a Sturmey Archer shell is thin material . That's not a heavy thick piece of casting there . And if you remove a tiny bit more than you should have , a replacement shell is extremely tough to obtain .
And , as always , this is all just one person's opinion . And hey , what do I really know about it anyway ? :^)
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas U.S.A.
> Beyond very fine steel wool what would one use to polish the shell of a
> Sturmey Archer alloy hub. My ASC's appearance is a bit rougher than I
would
> like and I'd rather not buy another right now.
>
> Paul Patzkowsky Longmont, Colorado