Cleaning plane body

[harmsdph]

Hey everyone, looking for some advise on what I should use to clean the sides of my hand plane (block plane) its my first and only hand plane so far just looking for the right way to take care of it. you can see from the photo it has tarnished from the oils on my hands I'm guessing...

[PaulMarcel]

I used Brasso on mine. Worked great. Works well for brass, too ...and I had a used plane sooo tarnished you couldn't see the brass for the iron; was a Brasso workout but results were great.

[Dan S]

I use #0000 steel wool, or a really fine scotch-brite pad. I've been told the only way to prevent the build up of patina, or rust if your one of the selects few who's sweat causes rust, is to coat the bare iron with schellac or lacquer. I Hope to try this out on my planes some time this winter.

[jlloydparks]

I use a fine grit eraser block. You can find one here. They work well as long as you work it in the direction of the original polishing. If you go 90 degrees off you will quickly see the different scratches. Works well and is quick and cheap.

[harmsdph]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Josh, I hadn't thought of that, I have a set of these blocks (course, medium and fine)

Paul, I haven't heard of Brasso before I take a look at it.

[walnut_weasel]

For light surface rust like this I use evapo-rust and a paper towel. Typically when you hear about evapo-rust it involves soaking heavily rusted parts. But I have found that if I wet a paper towel, wipe a bit on the surface, let it soak a minute or two then wipe it off with another towel soaked in water it works just as well. No steel wool or sandpaper needed. Just be sure to coat the surface with then oil/wax of your choice immediately afterwords.