Voigtlander Pressure plate finish

[BobUK]

A recent Voigtlander film camera that I purchased is fine mechanically but, the film pressure plate must have corroded.
The previous owner appears to have used a fairly rough emery paper to clean it, taking it down to the bare metal.
I am going to remove the rivets holding it in place, polish, then apply some sort of smooth black finish.
I wondered about one of those gun blue kits.
Can anybody recommend a good finish suitable for the pressure plate?

Thank you.

 

[250swb]

I'd send it back and get a refund. The pressure plate is too critical to mess with and risk scratches or it not holding the film flat. You can't leave it bare metal that's for sure, and other than a refund search on eBay to see if anybody is parting one out as spares.

 

[BobUK]

Hello 250swb
I only paid £12 , buy it now.
It is working fine, even the self timer. I took a gamble there would be something wrong.
The only thing is the plate. Not the end of the world, it is fixable.

By the way.
I removed the leatherette on the back to get at the plate spring rivets to drill them out.
Removed the rivets then found out I was wasting my time. The pressure plate can be removed by using a little assertive pressure only.

 

[snusmumriken]

Bob, I thought you'd get some repairers' views by now, but as you haven't, here's my inexpert thought. I would polish the plate with the finest emery paper you can find (eg 2400 grit), followed by jeweller's rouge mixed into a paste with water or oil (followed by a good clean up with alcohol, otherwise all your pictures will be red!), and then buff with a rotary buffer on a small drill or a Dremel. Then blue: you can get one-solution blueing stuff from a gunsmith, and it is very easy to get an even finish. Then buff again lightly. I can't see it being a problem to get a scratch-less finish.

I can't quite picture how you will replace the rivets and make sure they aren't in the film path, but I'm sure you'll manage.

 

[mshchem]

Needs to be steel to blue. Be careful to use a regular bluing solution not a black.

 

[ic-racer]

I’d just spray it with black paint. Unless the outer rails are toast, the film should only just graze the pressure plate.