Alot of people have reached out to me recently regarding replacement or repair of items that were maybe modified by the original owner, damaged over time and use, or otherwise modified by community members who offer refinishing services.... 

As a rule, I generally do not reccommend modifications of any of the items I make, and anything that has been modified is ineligible for any sort of help from me in the event things go arwy. I totally stand by my products when they are unmodified. 

Many of the things that I make are on the bleeding edge of what is possible with my machining techniques, maintaining adequate integrity in the stock and originally completed condition. Items can quickly lose that integrity through removal of material or heating processes that are common in modification techniques. 

Disclaimer: All the notes that you read here are in reference to the ways that I finish different metals, there can be other techniques, but I know about the ones that I use.

Some thoughts on modifications or refinishing of different materials: 

Stainless steel: alot of my parts are thin, and stainless steel retains stress in the material after machining. My parts are generally designed to take advantage of the built in stress post machining, modification can relieve this built in stress... leading to warping. Additionally, BLASTING or OVERHEATING and subsequent COOLING of Stainless can cause warping of the part. 

-Blasting: (depending on the type of media and pressure and grit size used) can either remove material, OR displace material, causing bending in particularly thin areas, OR Erode through the part entirely. 

Zirconium: Finishing of zirconium, in my case, results in either a black zirconium oxide finish, or a multi color zirconium oxide finish(aka oil slick). 

   Oil Slick zirconium is heated in a way that "grows" a varying depth layer of zirconium oxide through which the reflective base metal can still be viewed, usually I do this in a gradient, which is visually striking in my opinion. The colors vary according to the thickness of that oxide. 

   Black finished zirconium is a particularly thick oxide finish in which the thickness of the oxide does not allow you to view the base material through that oxide. Removal of this oxide results in large amounts of material loss. 

I describe these characteristics in order to illustrate a point about refinishing zirconium.... GENERALLY IT IS A BAD IDEA. Removing the oxides on an oil slick finish is problematic, because of the layer thickness variation leads to slower rates of removal in the thicker areas... and faster rates of removal in thinner oxide areas... this leads to a very non uniform surface NO MATTER THE METHOD OF OXIDE REMOVAL. Whether it is chemical or mechanical. Another note is that the removal of the oxides results in washing out of the features and destruction of the original machine marks or features of the item...again, due to the uneven removal of oxides and micro features that can be easily destroyed, basically this creates an item that is now a shadow of its former self, unrecognizable in a lot of cases. 

One way that Zirc can be effectively refinished is by going from an oil slick finish to a black finish while maintaining the original surface finish and all the nicks and bumps and bruises it picked up along the way, this is at the top of a VERY short list of options on zirc. 

Titanium: Titanium is fairly forgiving, and pretty easy to modify, but things can still go wrong... Acid over-etching, over-blasting (leading to warping similar to SS above),  over-stonewashing... basically get with a modifier that has a good track record and can show examples of previous work. 

IF Titanium is colored with heat related methods... see zirc section. 

Exotic Titanium Laminates or Ti-Zr laminates: SHOULD NEVER BE REFINISHED, See the notes about zirconium, all the same guidelines apply... but the destruction of the features is further complicated, due to the varying densities or the alloys contained therein. All the above notes about the colors and thicknesses of the oxides apply.

This material should be handled carefully, not allowed to contact items in pockets, not allowed to come into contact with dirt... clean with a soft cloth and lens cleaner. OR wash with water, then clean with soft cloth and lens cleaner. (treat it like you treat your phone screen)  

Mokume: This one I feel very personally... my mokume pieces are finished with my heart and soul involved... its a very easy material to modify, therefore, also VERY easy to mess up... I ask that you leave it alone.... but if you must.... go ahead, break my heart, and please find someone who can modify with care. 

Copper/Brass/Bronze: Love it, polish it, brush it, etc... do whatever your heart desires... just know, whatever you do to it, the result after the patina of 2-3 weeks.... its gonna look the same as what it did before you modified. some people maintain a polish finish all the time and this is a great option, just go easy! I reccommend a SUNSHINE Brand Yellow cloth for this. Patina removal WITHOUT affecting the original surface finish I recommend Tarn-x, follow the instructions on the bottle. 

With all this in mind.... please know that every time you modify, you are removing material that cannot be put back... take care of your pieces and they will give you YEARS AND YEARS of service. 

IF you want your item to remain in immaculate condition forever.... put it away in a place far from reach of yourself or children, and NEVER EVER USE IT, lol. 

Please don't modify...  but, IF YOU MUST MODIFY... I can Recommend Phillip Atchison, or Peter Chapman.