The Repair Shop Shed

[Wussername]

I have an old ships bell, a brass bell, which is somewhat tarnished. Should I leave it as is, or clean it. Shiny bright as I used to remember.

If I decide to go the clean route how do go about it, wire wool grade 0000 I believe although that does seem a bit drastic to me. I really do not want to mess up.

What other process should I consider.

Andrew

[Sam]

Brasso and a soft cloth 

[Vaughan]

Try lemon juice and salt, for a start.

[Islander]

Try brown sauce and then polish or just leave the natural patina and wash with mild detergent and soft cloth. The natural finish will please MM .

Colin 

p.s. You can use malt vinegar and a soft cloth to start with but I prefer to save it for my chips.

[Mouldy]

12 minutes ago, Islander said:

 . . . . .The natural finish will please MM . . . . . . .

Is it not copper that goes green? 😁😉

[JennyMorgan]

Leave it in a bucket of 'Coke' for a few days.

[Islander]

Brass, a mix of copper and zinc. The ratio depending on purpose and manufacturer. Purity can make a difference as to how it ages and it’s scrap value. Then you still have bronze and gunmetal with all the variations and % of other metals.

IMHO just polish it unless it’s comes from a historical ship.

Colin 

[CambridgeCabby]

Bar Keepers metal polish , excellent product 

[SteveO]

Brasso and elbow-grease or a cotton polishing wheel with a stick of fine polishing compound. Once you have it shiny, be prepared to repeat the polishing process again and again and again.

[grendel]

Autosol chrome polish on a buffing wheel, I bought a steam engine boiler from black to polished using this in a dremel

[MaceSwinger]

2 hours ago, grendel said:

Autosol chrome polish on a buffing wheel, I bought a steam engine boiler from black to polished using this in a dremel

Autosol is what I use on my brasses and have done for years. Coke bath to strip the worst of the tarnishing (and any nasty "staybrite" lacquer) off, then a good going over with Autosol. And bog standard Brasso for maintenance. 

[JennyMorgan]

Just a thought, I used T-Cut on a really rough old lamp, that brought it back to life a treat! Might not be a recommended technique but that was what I had to hand and the lamp was not exactly precious.

[MaceSwinger]

1 hour ago, JennyMorgan said:

Just a thought, I used T-Cut on a really rough old lamp, that brought it back to life a treat! Might not be a recommended technique but that was what I had to hand and the lamp was not exactly precious.

To be fair, T-Cut is a polish all polishes work on a similar principle, a mild (or micro) abrasive to wear off the tarnish. Albeit on T-Cut it works more by smoothing out marks in the clearcoat. I use Autosol first because it's a heavier duty abrasive than Brasso, but Brasso to finish is a good shout. Much the same as when you compound your car (or gelcoat!), start with a heavier abrasive and work down to a finish.

[JanetAnne]

If it helps, Brasso is finer than T Cut so will be a bit kinder to the job.

[floydraser]

Blimey it's confusing... please put the following in order of abrasiveness, if that's even a word:

Brasso, T-Cut, cutting compound, Cif (Jif or cream cleaner), Vim, lemon juice & salt, your Grandad's flannelette nightshirt, and anything else found in the kitchen or garage.

No prizes.

[grendel]

you missed out on toothpaste, essential for cleaning plastic headlight glasses

[PaulN]

JennyMorgan

If your Genie granted you 3 wishes, could you get rid of this virus please, so we can get back on our boats 

[JennyMorgan]

1 hour ago, PaulN said:

JennyMorgan

If your Genie granted you 3 wishes, could you get rid of this virus please, so we can get back on our boats 

So long as I could choose which boat and owner combination to protect!! Wooden sailing boat owners would of course take priority, followed closely by those of classic Broads wooden motor cruisers. Perhaps, after a month or two, I would include the general riff-raff. Of course I jest, in reality I would . . . . . . . . 

[AndyTBoater]

Whack on three coats of black Hammerite. 

Saves all this cleaning malarkey. 

I did clean a brass thing once and tried everything. Ended up using "The Pink Stuff" £1 a pot from Lathams and other similar places. Its also great for GRP bits and a lot cheaper the G3 or G6

[PaulN]

Yes. We swear by The Pink Stuff, very low abraision and works wonders on the Fibreglass. Perhapd remove any hevy corrosion first, then give it a try.

KM We have artificial teak decks, hope that fits in somewhere in your pecking order  (tongue in cheek)