Okay, let’s talk about this little project I called “vintage captain”. It wasn’t anything massive, just something I got stuck into one weekend.
How It Started
It actually kicked off when I was clearing out some old boxes in the attic. Found a dusty old trunk full of my grandfather’s stuff. He was in the merchant navy way back when, always had stories. Buried under some moth-eaten blankets, I found this small, tarnished brass telescope. Looked pretty beat up, but kinda cool. That got me thinking – maybe I could clean it up a bit, make it look like a proper ‘vintage captain’ piece for my bookshelf.
Getting Stuck In
First thing, I needed to figure out how to clean this thing without wrecking it. Brass can be tricky. I remembered my dad using some special polish for brass ornaments years ago. Took a trip down to the hardware store, grabbed some brass cleaner – nothing too harsh, I hoped – and a bunch of soft cloths. Didn’t want to scratch it all up.
Back home, I laid out some old newspapers. Put the telescope down and just looked at it for a bit. It was grimy, green tarnish in places, especially around the joints where you extend it. I tested the cleaner on a tiny spot first, underneath where it wouldn’t show. Seemed okay. So, I started applying the stuff gently with a cloth, working in small circles. Man, the grime that came off was something else. Took a fair bit of elbow grease, especially on the tarnished bits.
This part took ages. Seriously, I spent maybe two hours just carefully rubbing and polishing. My fingers were black by the end. Some spots were stubborn. I used an old toothbrush very, very gently on the engraved parts – there was a maker’s mark and some decorative lines. Had to be careful not to scrub too hard.
Hitting a Snag
The lenses were another story. They were dusty and had some weird smudges inside. I tried extending the telescope, but it was stiff. Didn’t want to force it and break anything. So, I decided to leave the inside alone. Sometimes you gotta know when to quit, right? I just cleaned the outside surfaces of the glass very carefully with a lens cloth I had for my camera. Better than nothing.
The Result
After all the polishing and wiping down, it looked way better. Still obviously old, which is what I wanted. It wasn’t super shiny like new brass, but had this nice, warm glow. The tarnish wasn’t completely gone, but it was reduced, kinda highlighting the age instead of just looking dirty. It still felt a bit stiff to extend, but I decided not to mess with the mechanism.
I found a nice spot for it on my bookshelf, next to some old hardback books. It doesn’t really do much, it’s not like I’m gonna use it for spotting ships. But it looks the part. Reminds me of Grandpa’s stories. Just a simple weekend thing, cleaning up a piece of the past. Pretty satisfying, actually.
