Advice Please!

[VetChugger]

I have acquired a, new to me, boat wheel that caught my eye. I need to decide by just how much I should try and restore/revive it!

I keep hearing about folk banging on about keeping "the patina" but I'm tempted to rub it down and do a good varnish job and use

whatever polish etc to brighten up the brass. First question is should I? The one that follows is how is best?? Here are a couple of

images of said wheel.

 

[JanetAnne]

Lots of varnish and get the brasso out. It will look fabulous.

As far as whether you should or not, it's yours to do with as you see fit so have what you want.

[scaniaman]

Painted in blue and yellow i think 

paul

[WherryNice]

I agree with JA there, do it how you would like it.

But if you aren't sure remember you can always polish and varnish it any old time but it will only look like it does now once(well it might look like that again one day but not any time soon....you get the drift).

[Ray]

I think I might try polishing up the brass alone at first just to see how that looks. Could end up keeping that "nicely aged and well used" look but at the same time "proudly cared for" or "shipshape"

I can understand why you are asking though, it can't be undone as WN observes above. Which is why I think we are all stressing that it's your call... no pressure 

[Chelsea14Ian]

I too agree with JA ,what I would do is lightly oil the wood.Often wood becomes dry,therefore by oiling it helps to preserve the wood.

[ranworthbreeze]

If you used some wood reviver (Colron make one) it would help clean the wood and also feed it prior to any finish you put on in the future.

Regards

Alan 

[grendel]

in the antiques business patina is everything, polishing brass is a big no-no.

to restore the wood tthey would use meths and a very fine wire wool to remove any dirt and loose or flakey varnish, then wax with a beeswax polish.

having said all of that - its a boat,  its your boat, so do what you want, its going to be in a harsh marine environment, so if you polish the brass up, you will need to regularly repeat, if you varnish the wood, it will still need regular maintenance, just to keep it in tip top shape. (to be fair, even if you dont polish and varnish, you will still need to keep on top of it.

[stumpy]

I had good results on our flag mast with 0000 wire wool and a number of coats of Danish Oil - much easier to apply, wipe on with an old T shirt cutting back between coats until it looks 'right'. Then just a coat every now and then. Less likely to chip than hard varnish.

[MauriceMynah]

I agree with Grendel, don't polish the brass, in fact I wouldn't polish any of it. A little oil perhaps but sparingly, just to stop the wood drying out and I'm not with Stumpy here, I wouldn't cut it back either. Let usage polish it. As it is, it looks a lovely wheel.

[Islander]

I agree with the Danish oil with a wood reviver before to bring the colour back but beware the wire wool if this is going to be exposed to the weather. Tiny particles of the wool can remain in the grain and cause nasty little black spots after a while requiring the whole lot being rubbed down again. Use fine sand paper folded by a scotchbrite pad to apply the oil. 

IMHO the brass would look it's best polished but do what feels best as its not a valuable antique, it's a tool for a job.

Colin

[annv]

As Ian said don't use steel wool,if you need to rub it down use fine grain fiba matting/pot cleaner, it doesn't look like varnish it looks like it's oiled/stained best keep it this way with a wipe of oil now and again. John

[VetChugger]

Thanks very much for the advice and suggestions so far. I am just about persuaded by the revive the wood then use danish oil treatment. As it happens, I was a smidge off being persuaded down the oil route with "Glenmore" before I settled on the supposedly "safe" option of six coats of varnish and, to this day, regret not doing that!

I'm yet to be finally persuaded on the brass work though. I really like shiney brass but I also appreciate the patina of years going by and all the handling etc. Is it possible to use a lacquer or clear sealer of some sort to help preserve the brass finish? I only ask this because, in the back of my ever shallowing mind I seem to recall reading something like this.

Thanks again for the interest and advice.

 

[annv]

Yes polish then spray with ignition sealer.John

[eddybear]

On 19/01/2019 at 15:46, VetChugger said:

Is it possible to use a lacquer or clear sealer of some sort to help preserve the brass finish? I only ask this because, in the back of my ever shallowing mind I seem to recall reading something like this.

On my last boat I had the same wheel as you which was varnished, I used to clean the brassware with a brass cleaner warding and a quick buff with a cotton duster time taken probably 10 minutes, the trouble is with putting any sort of coating lacquer etc on brass it will still tarnish in time and then you have to clean the lacquer off before clearing the brass, so in my opinion ( clean Buff enjoy ) and do again when it starts to tarnish but it will only take you about 10 minutes