Polishing brass

[flywheel]

Thanks to Jeff Moss for the locks!

Good day folks. A brass polishing question. I used the only thing I had, a dremel with wire wheel. It's tiny and slow (and very cold in the garage), but it did produce a nice result. Is there a better or more efficient way to return the luster to tarnished brass? A buffing wheel with rubbing compound? A soaking solution? Very fine sandpaper and elbow grease? Or is a dremel as good as anything else if you are patient enough?
The goal is a nice luster with minimum loss of material or damage to lettering and logos. Your experience and input is welcome. I think the next KP member to hold these is really going to like them.
Thanks!

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[Riyame]

Go to your supermarket and look for a product called brasso. It is a brass polish. Use it and a soft cloth along with a bit of elbow grease to bring them back to a shine without getting the wire wheel look to them. You can even rub it on and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to make things easier.

[flywheel]

Go to your supermarket and look for a product called brasso. It is a brass polish. Use it and a soft cloth along with a bit of elbow grease to bring them back to a shine without getting the wire wheel look to them. You can even rub it on and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to make things easier.

Brasso! Sounds simple enough. Right next to Steelo and Bath Tubo. I'll keep an eye out.

[scudo]

me being a cheapskate try toothpaste.

[MrWizard]

Sometimes the patina is the lock. If there is many dents, scratches, distortions cleaning it makes it even more obvious so be sure you want to chance a finish you might have been well enough to leave it alone.. I have used CLR on many things and got great results. Sometimes it is super shinny, sometimes it is a dull clean look depends on the base metal. Brass hand held wire brush work very well as it is softer then what you are working on. Tooth paste gets a super shinny polish after you have cleaned the item. Cheap and easy try them all. Brasso works but never use it.

[youluckyfox]

Thanks to Jeff Moss for the locks!

Good day folks. A brass polishing question. I used the only thing I had, a dremel with wire wheel. It's tiny and slow (and very cold in the garage), but it did produce a nice result. Is there a better or more efficient way to return the luster to tarnished brass? A buffing wheel with rubbing compound? A soaking solution? Very fine sandpaper and elbow grease? Or is a dremel as good as anything else if you are patient enough?
The goal is a nice luster with minimum loss of material or damage to lettering and logos. Your experience and input is welcome. I think the next KP member to hold these is really going to like them.
Thanks!

A buffing wheel with polishing compound is great. When I started using it I made a rookie move and put the compound on the part instead of the polishing wheel. A polishing wheel on a bench grinder with polishing compound will polish brass so that you can see the wrinkles of your face in the reflection! But for a long-lasting shine, sanding to the highest grit and then polishing is a good option.

[monraet]

Brass locks should never be polished. I only wipe them off with WD-40. It takes years to acquire that beautiful patina
my 2 cents

[Deadlock]

One thing about polishing a padlock like that is, once you start, you have to keep it up. A brass wire brush would be the first thing I'd reach for. After that, well, Brasso's got to be the oldest polish out there. Something that's also pretty old - and a lot nicer to use - is Autosol metal polish. If you don't know it, see this site: http://www.autosol.com The Autosol Metal Polish in the gold tube was originally a chrome cleaner - or that's what I used it for in the '70's. It's a bit rough for long term use on brass. It would be good for getting the first polish up after the wire brush, but then probably best to use the Autosol Shine Metal Polish.

[scudo]

Deadlock...I forgot about Autosol, I used that years back on the aluminium parts of my Yamaha xs850 triple (an American import) using some buffers attached to a drill I could get a mirror finish, BUT 10 minutes in the rain and it was back to square one

[Deadlock]

Ha ha, yup. Jap alloy was notoriously quick to corrode. That's why the cases were always painted silver or lacquered when they came out of the factory. The old and bold, or old and bald among us will remember it as Solvol Autosol. 'Solvol' disappeared somewhere along the line, although you can still see it referred to as such on the net.The Solvol name now belongs to an Australian soap making company.

[Papa Gleb]

Flywheel, check my thread about restoration. There are many great tips there. I'm on my iPhone so it's harder to find and post the link but go back a few pages of top threads and you'll find it.

[Doogs]

Flywheel, check my thread about restoration. There are many great tips there. I'm on my iPhone so it's harder to find and post the link but go back a few pages of top threads and you'll find it.

Here's the link to Papa Glebs thread Flywheel this should help you out a bit.
viewtopic.php?f=111&t=9799

Papa I apologize I didn't realise you already had a thread started about this. I hope my PM helped you out maybe I should do a restoration video and show how I do it. My technique was developed from doing hardware restoration on antique furniture but I believe it applies equally well to locks.

[Doogs]

Here's my reply to Papa Gleb about lock restoration:

Hi Papa:
I don't touch the patina unless there's severe rust, paint or oxidation. Paint or rust I delicately remove with a pick or a brass bristle brush if it's really bad and try not to get anywhere there isn't paint/rust. Brasso or similar for genaral oxidization. 3M pads will work also but you risk removing that age if you get aggressive. If you do get carried away and need to just say EFF IT! Clean them up with 3M pads or whatever mild abrasive (not sandpaper) and liquid polish (Brasso, Flitz, LPS) taking it to an even polish you are happy with and then give it a couple of light coats of varnish (preferably the type they use on motor windings).

Dremel and other similar power tools can help and are more precise but watch the speed and pressure. The key here is practice and familiarity.

Find some old brass/bronze hardware or whatever you can find such as doorknobs, latches and hinges and experiment with it. It will save you a lot of frustration and depressing mistakes and give you the confidence to get those collectibles purdy.

Hope this helps. You might wan't to start a thread and see what others have to say as there's a lot of talent around here.

ETA:
I find if you want to take brass back to like new condition, use a felt buffing wheel on a bench grinder
and use varying grades of rouge/polishing compound to get to the desired finish. Quick and easy and just a bit of hand wiping with a good residue free cleaner to finish. To keep it looking shiny get a can of clear spray lacquer and give the lock a couple of light coats. This will work for other metals and alloys also.

[flywheel]

Didn't find any Brasso in the supermarket. Did find CLR, CameO, and Bar Keeper's Friend. The first two specifically instruct you not to use on brass. I did it anyway. With those two it appears that scrubbing with a rough sponge did more to remove the discoloration than the chemical. Also, the CLR seems to add a slight pinkish hue to the brass. I tried to capture it with the camera but it didn't show up well.
That's okay because that leaves us with BKF. That stuff is a keeper. Check out the keys below. I dripped enough to cover one key and left it for bit. I came back and wiped it off with a napkin. We all know how abrasive napkins are. The results speak for themselves.
Admittedly, I like gleaming brass more than the tarnished look. I don't plan on polishing every brass lock I come across. I had a few and wanted to see how they would look if they were cleaned up.

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[jeffmoss26]

Wow. Looks great!!