We just took delivery of our Clan Yes key ring from Shapeways. It is always an exciting time unboxing things we created, and we were pretty happy with the results. It feels really solid and has a nice weight, it is flat enough to avoid creating a bulge in our pocket and has a nice bronze finish.
To be honest though, we had hoped it would be a bit shinier across the main lettering. Previous orders in the polished nickel steel finish were very shiny, but it seems polished bronze steel is a lot duller.
As an experiment, we applied some Brasso metal polish wadding to see if that made a difference. The transformation was immediate. Not only can you get the surfaces to a very nice shine in a couple of minutes, the contrast between shiny raised areas and dull, dark recessed areas is quite dramatic.
We continued the polishing across the smaller lettering, and to pick out the details in the belt and the rim of the belt, but we left the facing of the belt untouched. We spent no more than 5 minutes applying the metal polish and rubbing to a shine with a soft cloth.
We love the result, this is our new favourite finish.
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