Brassware

The lack of shine on brass is actually oxidization so the only way to stop that would be to stop oxygen from getting to the brass.

Have you tried storing the brass in a vacuum?

Have you considered carnauba wax? Of course that means periodic re-waxing.

And, not knowing what the use is??????????????

This is where apprentices come into their own.

Armed with some clean rags and some "Brasso", then applying all that youthful exurberance to the task of polishing, it will keep your brassware in "Ship shape and Bristol fashion".

The side benefit will be knowing where your apprentices are at any given time..

Look for a gold plating shop.

Yahlasit

Take a look at this one.

Yahlasit

The project is a marine searchlight, it has tremendous sentimental value, and it will be granted pride of place in my study. But the problem of keeping it in it's original, highly polished state, is of course problematic, I agree, the solution offered of getting it gold plated, would be the answer, but the cost would be prohibitive, so lads, there has to be an answer.

I spent 16 years in the Navy, and I polished a lot of brass. The simple fact is that there is no way to keep that luster without re-polishing from time to time. Brass is made from copper and zinc, two highly reactive metals, and the stuff tarnishes all too rapidly. You can try coating with wax or tung oil, but it's just not going to have that brilliant, gold-like shine without either re-polishing it on a regular basis or having it gold-plated. Sorry, but that's the hard reality of polished brass.

For what it's worth, the easiest kind of brass polish to use is something called Nevr-Dull. It's an impregnated wadding. Pull off a little piece and rub till all the discoloration is gone, let it dry to a haze, and then polish off the haze with a soft cloth. It also seems to slow the tarnishing process somewhat. I'm not even sure they still make the stuff.

They do still make Nevr-Dull! You can buy it on-line or get it at a lot of hardware stores. Great stuff. Of course you'll have to check and see if it's legal in Australia.

Wadpol wax polish planes jets wing leading edges

That might work. I'd be interested to see the results.

Hmmmmm..... Just looked the stuff up, and it's expensive as hell. £32 for a can, and it didn't say how big the can is. Still, if it works, it's probably worth it. Interesting.

Now there's food for thought, and who knows, I might be able to get a discount, seeing that I'm originally from Birmingham, UK.or perhaps a pensioners discount.%^%$&*(*&!

I WISH...!!

I've been in touch with Indestructable paints in the UK, and they have recommended their product, "Incralac" as being ideal, but I've yet to determine price & local stockists. A visit to their site is well worth it, very interesting. Thanks guys...!!

Norm, Try the local Wattyl/Taubmans outlet to see if they have it in stock

http://www.wattyl.com.au/library/TDS/Incralac.PDF

Maybe polish it once and spray on lacquer?

Musical instruments like a trumpet are covered or plated with something. My one is still shining satisfactorily after 50 years, expert where this layer were rubbed of by frequent handling.

It could however be gold plated, gold was cheap back then.

Of course the thing is kept inside and not exposed to the elements.

what you need to do is plate the brass with nickel, and then plate it with gold.

Since brass is an alloy of copper, the copper is fully miscible with gold, and slow diffuses into the gold and reaches the surface and goes green.

The thin nickel plate blocks this because copper will not diffuse into nickel, so the gold stays pristine.

Gold is very soft, so avoid abrasion

After polishing, spray with lacquer, it's what they do with musical instruments. Of course you need good spray equipment, and you have to clean the polished brass before spraying, probably with acetone or some other nasty solvent to get out every last trace of whatever the polish was carried in, and any skin oils left behind.

You do have a nice down-draft spray booth fed with highly filtered air don't you?

Martin

LJ wrote

Then bring it to a coater who specializes in vacuum deposition of aluminum, gold and AR coatings for optics.

He'll put it in his vacuum chamber and give it a coating of SiO which is what they do with gold and aluminum coated telescope mirrors. The SiO optically clear, is hard as Hell and prevents scratches. It also insulates the base metal from oxygen so it can't possibly tarnish..

Unforunately this will not work. When an object is coated in a vacuum chamber, the atoms follow a line of sight path. So any part of the object that is in the shadow of any other part will not get coated. One would need to rotate the object in three axis while it is getting coated to obtain a uniform coating.

This is why optics are position in the chamber on a flat surface that is parallel to the source and many times the mounting plate is rotated to achieve an uniform coating.

By the way SiO is not "hard as hell". What happens is that SiO quickly oxides to from SiO2 which is tough. The problem is that SiO coating will contain pin holes and will allow the brass surface underneath to tranish with time. Removing the SIO2 coating after the brass has again tranished will make it more difficult to repolish.The best method is to either chemically gold plate the brass or spray a clear coating over it.

DG

Come on! Retired and too lazy to polish it once a week????

(I actually agree with you and hope that the "Nevr-Dull" is good enough as plating means its not original anymore!)

Hello,

I bought a pie safe over twenty years ago. Instead of tin I had copper panels added. I coated the copper with clear polyurethene finish and it is still holding up well. Try a few pieces before you coat everything. It is available in aerosol cans at Lowes and other hardware stores.

Try "Blue Coral" automotive wax, it will remove tarnish and protect the surface for a very long time, even with handling. I have used this on brass, silver and blued firearms with great results. I have a Taurus "Judge" that has not rusted for over 3 years after coating with this product and it is handled and shot alot. Good luck!

I have to vote with those who suggest clear lacquer for the cheapest, easiest solution. If the item is in an environmentally protected area it will hold up for many, many years.

Just make sure the item is totally oil/grease free before spraying.

Hooker

I'd be curious to see what you think of "RENAISSANCE Microcrystalline WAX POLISH".

They advertise it as being used by museums to protect exhibits, etc.

Let us know what you think please.

More grist for the mill, great idea, I will certainly carry out some research, but on the face of it it sounds good..!

Try automotive clear coat.

works great, last a long time.

Kleenflow Ignition Sealer

This is a polymer spray used to clear seal automotive ignitions.

Covers - Prevents corrosion.

m

OK guys, I think we have exhausted the topic, thanks every one for your input, you've certainly pointed me in the right direction...!! Thanks again.

my wife's uncle owned a clock repair shop and I heard him describe to an owner of a brass carriage clock [with your same question] to lacquer it. but, you can never touch it again. it will certainly show finger prints and attempted fixes. the clock was very expensive and kept in a sort of glass dome. which makes the lacquer job ok then. don't know the name of the lacquer.