i serviced my lionel f3 and cleaned the commutators first with an eraser then a light rub of scotchbrite to get rid of the stubborn black. Im concerned i scratched the face a bit. Should i polish with 600 grit sandpaper to smooth it as some suggest or leave it alone? Just thinking long term.
thanks!
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I would leave it alone at this point. I have just used an eraser on those and left it at that.
I personally clean the armature with mineral spirits, then chuck the worm end into my drill, hit full speed and apply some mineral-spirit-soaked Scotchbrite (the green grade) to the commutator surface using just light finger pressure. It's really quick and it sure looks good and runs great when done!! On occasion when the surface is deeply grooved, I chuck the armature into my drill and hit it quickly with some 400 grit wet/dry paper - afterwards cleaning really well with mineral spirits and a toothbrush to remove any grit!
Always put new brushes in unless you can see the existing brushes have little (5% or less) wear and are NOT oil soaked.
You will probably get as many answers as there are participants on this forum. This appears to be one of those areas where there are few solid facts to back up many opinions. The one area of agreement seems to be really light lubrication cuz that oil just gets spun all over the place when you first fire things up!
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