Vokey SM8 Black Finish to Raw

[DaveGoodrich]

On 7/14/2022 at 6:39 AM, PINGRebel said:

Freshly stripped SM9’s….another bath for cleanup, but super easy to do.  

Did you use a brass brush to remove the finish after soaking?  I ask, because I did that on a SM6 wedge once, long ago, and it came out with a copper color like yours look in the pics. I think there is actually a plating process that occurs with the acid, which deposits the copper on the steel. It's thin though, and goes away pretty quickly. 

[PINGRebel]

30 minutes ago, DaveGoodrich said:

Did you use a brass brush to remove the finish after soaking?  I ask, because I did that on a SM6 wedge once, long ago, and it came out with a copper color like yours look in the pics. I think there is actually a plating process that occurs with the acid, which deposits the copper on the steel. It's thin though, and goes away pretty quickly. 

I used 1000g sandpaper, wiped with a cloth afterwards.  I soaked in intervals of 30 min.  After the first run, they actually looked really good.  Dark/gray color.  
 

I ended up doing a 3rd soak for about two hours straight and then they came out more “rusty”. 

[gaston_maffei]

hello! I have some SM6 tour chrome. Does anyone know how to achieve the black or steel gray finish?

[gentles]

2 hours ago, gaston_maffei said:

hello! I have some SM6 tour chrome. Does anyone know how to achieve the black or steel gray finish?

take them to an electroplaters to remove the chrome and nickel finish. Not a diy job 🙂

[Matasky]

On 2/1/2022 at 1:41 PM, DaveGoodrich said:

Lots of folks say the black wedges are not the same as the true raw wedges.  I don't know if that is true.  I have stripped several black SM6, SM7, and now an SM8.    The black wedges, stripped raw, come out looking like a quality tool steel.  Think of an old, good quality hammer - but one that has been taken care of, not one that has been left out in the rain and left to its own devices.  They don't rust easily, but mine have developed light rust when I left them untouched for some time in the garage.  I have done some grinding on the stripped black wedges, and don't see any evidence that there is any difference in the corrosion resistance at the surface vs. where I ground a bit deeper.  So I'm not convinced that there is anything that "penetrates the metal."   It would have to penetrate pretty far to go beyond the depth that have ground.  

 

All of that being said, I don't know why anyone would want actual significant rust to develop on their wedges.  The corrosion will really attack the sharp edges of the grooves and the fine milling between the grooves.  This will essentially round the edges and destroy the surface texture much more quickly than normal wear alone.   Any "texture" added by the rust will be less effective than intact face milling, not to mention less uniform. 

Reading thru this thread, I've been wondering the same- why do people want actual rust to form on their wedges?? I love the nice patina of an aged (but maintained) steel, I was thinking that over time the jet black SM8s should wear nicely and achieve that sort of vintage look. Steel wool followed by polishing also a good way to achieve the vintage look.

[CD17]

5 minutes ago, Matasky said:

Reading thru this thread, I've been wondering the same- why do people want actual rust to form on their wedges?? I love the nice patina of an aged (but maintained) steel, I was thinking that over time the jet black SM8s should wear nicely and achieve that sort of vintage look. Steel wool followed by polishing also a good way to achieve the vintage look.

I don’t worry if mine rust or not, I just don’t like chrome or the black finish because after a while the coating wears off & they look tatty, so mine are raw now & haven’t rusted, they look much better IMO 

[Matasky]

5 minutes ago, CD17 said:

I don’t worry if mine rust or not, I just don’t like chrome or the black finish because after a while the coating wears off & they look tatty, so mine are raw now & haven’t rusted, they look much better IMO 

Yes fair enough, but I did see a few comments mentioning wedges not rusting after being stripped- seems some people do want them to rust. Having any rust anywhere near the golf bag or other clubs is never a good idea IMO, of course I'm in a very humid climate so it's a never-ending battle.

 

I like the ability to create a unique wedge finish, I used to own the (limited) blue finish Vokeys. They were really cool because nobody else had them!