Brass Lock Refurbishment.

[Polly]

Brilliant has a nice old brass door lock but it doesn't work.

Rather than replacing it I thought at least an attempt to restore it might be a good plan.

A neighbour has a locksmith son in law so a key should be possible. There are YouTube clips of boiling locks in bicarbonate of soda to clean them, sounds a bit drastic, any ideas?

 

[BroadScot]

 

10 minutes ago, Polly said:

Brilliant has a nice old brass door lock but it doesn't work.

Rather than replacing it I thought at least an attempt to restore it might be a good plan.

A neighbour has a locksmith son in law so a key should be possible. There are YouTube clips of boiling locks in bicarbonate of soda to clean them, sounds a bit drastic, any ideas?

 

That does sound a bit drastic ! A call to that locksmith should glean an answer hopefully. WD40 does clean many things, may be worth a try.

Iain

[Polly]

Yes, the YouTube clip went on to WD40, and it's effective on lots of things. Worth a try.

[Bound2Please]

NEVER USE WD40 in a lock USE DUCK oil ............. wd40 attracts dirt and dust......

But best of akll use graphite powder

[grendel]

dunk it in a bath of coca cola for a while, the phosphoric acid should clean the brass and de-rust and steel or iron components - citric acid will also work wonders.

(have you ever seen a 2p that has been bathed in coca cola?- Shiney)

I use coca cola to de-rust old meccano, it takes off the rust without affecting the old paint too much, sometimes some gentle encouragement with wire wool helps(but this also takes off the paint) - then I buff it up with some car wax polish

[Polly]

Awesome thanks guys

 

[ranworthbreeze]

On 5/3/2016 at 10:14 PM, Polly said:

 

Hi Polly, 

I would take it to the locksmiths to have a key cut and have it repaired, I am sure the locksmiths we went to for having keys cut for Ranworth Breeze were very good, here is  a link to their website, if I remember they were near to Boats & Outboards.

http://www.locksmiths.co.uk/find-a-locksmith/a-c-leigh-norwich-limited/

Regards

Alan

[Springsong]

A C Leigh have been around since forever, I remember them in the 80s and their shop seemed old then. As I recall they wore brown coats a la open all hours.

Two of our locks accidentally had a bath in oxalic acid so I had to have them re chromed which entailed taking them apart. Perhaps slightly more modern than the Brilliant ones you have Polly.

[ranworthbreeze]

There is something reassuring about a locksmiths or hardware shop that is somewhat old fashioned, the guy's in their work coats, know their products, no need for bar-codes or labels (such as apples in supermarkets, really bugs me) advice given, job sorted.

Now where are those fork handles

Regards

Alan

[VetChugger]

"Roy Wilkerson" in Acle is (or was last time I visited) a similar sort of shop Alan.

I've sourced lots of useful and essential bits there in the past. Very friendly as well as the brown coat. (or was it white?)

[Polly]

Well I tried to remove the grub screw holding the knob on, but with time pressing it was not going to happen unless the screw co-operated. It didn't, so I will come back at it with a better screwdriver next Friday and try again. I think the locksmith with family over the road will be my first port of call, after that I will follow up the suggestions made if I draw a blank. Many thanks, will keep you posted.

[BroadAmbition]

Please do, we have various lever locks onboard and only two of them use the same key.  Thing is two of them are original (Still working) and I'd like to try and get them all looked at so to use the same key.  Thanks,

Griff

[ChrisB]

Like an idiot I tried a key in an antique ladies bureau we inherited. It locked it. Permanently!  I borrowed a huge tin of keys from the antique shop in Stalham and after about an hour found one that not only fit but unlocked it. 

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Griff,

That should be a fairly easy task for a locksmith (might cost a bit however), it is just a case of putting new levers into locks to accept the same key.

Regards

Alan

[Polly]

The lock has had a Coca Cola clean up and is across the road for specialist help. It looks as though at least one return spring is missing. 

Here are the other bits. I honestly thought the ring handle was bronze before coke and wire wool. 

[Polly]

Ok Griff, no I haven't done the portholes!

[LondonRascal]

A note on cleaning Brass.

I'm not so sure about the Coke as a use for cleaning - especially if you use 'full fat' Coke and not diet version  because of the sugar content which would leave a sticky residue on all surfaces that you need to then clean off.

The 'secret' to Cokes cleaning abilities are down to the small amounts of acids present in it.

Citric acid (known to remove the stains) Phosphoric acid (commonly used for rust removal) and Carbonic acid (which dissolves limestone and may break down some of the mineral build-up).

There are many cleaners which have these in them without the coloring and sugar syrup coke has - not to mention Coke is far more expensive than fuel let along a reasonably priced cleaner.

For example, to clean Brass just get some citric acid - it is easy to get in powder form, (Link to buy) and just use a couple of teaspoons of the powder to 1 litre of boiling water in a non-metallic dish. Stir with a non-metallic spoon.

Now put in your Brass, and stir or swirl the container for a couple seconds.

You will see the tarnish and dirt being removed almost instantly. Usually takes only a few seconds to a minute or so, and it's done there is no need to soak for a long time.

The brass will look almost like-new, cleaned inside and out.

Rinse the brass with clean hot water, and set aside to dry. 

[Bound2Please]

1 minute ago, LondonRascal said:

The brass will look almost like-new, cleaned inside and out.

Rinse the brass with clean hot water, and set aside to dry. 

 

 

If you wish it stay looking like that, spray it with the cheapest of cheap hairspray. ( Great cheap lacour) as long as its doesn't get scratched it will stay shiny new looking

[Gracie]

Not only that, if you use Le' Oreal, Paris, it will stay in place all day, because your lock is worth it .......sorry Charlie, couldn't resist

Grace

[Bound2Please]

7 minutes ago, Gracie said:

Not only that, if you use Le' Oreal, Paris, it will stay in place all day, because your lock is worth it .......sorry Charlie, couldn't resist

Grace

Alan can we please have an over the knee spankie thingy just for Grace matey

Charlie xx xx

[Poppy]

20 minutes ago, Bound2Please said:

Alan can we please have an over the knee spankie thingy just for Grace matey

Charlie xx xx

Just send her round to me

[grendel]

1 hour ago, LondonRascal said:

A note on cleaning Brass.

I'm not so sure about the Coke as a use for cleaning - especially if you use 'full fat' Coke and not diet version  because of the sugar content which would leave a sticky residue on all surfaces that you need to then clean off.

The 'secret' to Cokes cleaning abilities are down to the small amounts of acids present in it.

Citric acid (known to remove the stains) Phosphoric acid (commonly used for rust removal) and Carbonic acid (which dissolves limestone and may break down some of the mineral build-up).

There are many cleaners which have these in them without the coloring and sugar syrup coke has - not to mention Coke is far more expensive than fuel let along a reasonably priced cleaner.

For example, to clean Brass just get some citric acid - it is easy to get in powder form, (Link to buy) and just use a couple of teaspoons of the powder to 1 litre of boiling water in a non-metallic dish. Stir with a non-metallic spoon.

Now put in your Brass, and stir or swirl the container for a couple seconds.

You will see the tarnish and dirt being removed almost instantly. Usually takes only a few seconds to a minute or so, and it's done there is no need to soak for a long time.

The brass will look almost like-new, cleaned inside and out.

Rinse the brass with clean hot water, and set aside to dry. 

 

 

Just to note the really cheap own brand diet coke works as well, and at about 20p a bottle is quite cheap too - I never use the same as I would drink, either a bottle that has been stored too long, or an own brand smart price / value bottle has always done the trick for me, plus it always gets rinsed in water and buffed up after.

I have used citric acid too, but its not as cheap as value coke.

[Polly]

Well as a non-coke drinker, it was a small bottle from the garage, soak overnight, rinse, buff with wire wool. Suited the job.