Cleaning Brass

Any recommendations on shining the brass fixtures?(ie butt and side plates, thimbles etc). This is for a Harper's pistol.

Try a good brand of Brass Cleaner that you can get from a Supermarket or Hardware store.
Look for kind that is for polishing brass lamps etc.
Do not use the Copper Cleaner that is made for Copper bottomed pans. It is too abrasive and will scratch up the surfaces.

zonie

Brasso....works great

I use Neverdull, it is a cotton type material with a solution soaked in. Comes in a Little Blue tin, just rip some out and go to town. Lots of auto part stores and department store have it. Boon

Only one work for brass care...

BRASSO

If you realy want to be PC then soak the parts in a jar of urine. That's the way that they did it back in "the day". "The Day" being the Civil War. The uremic acid in the urine does the trick on brass.

Thanks for all the info. About the urine method, that makes for some interesting history. I never knew that. :nono: But I think I'll have to be non-period on that one. Or I'd never be invited back for any re-enactments. :redface:

oh, i can see it now, the middle aged fellow in 'period garb' standing at the pay phone in the cell block... "Honey, I need you to call our lawyer... no there wasn't a car wreck... no, nobody was shot at the camp... well I'm here at the station... no, not the train station... "

by way of brasso- be very careful not to get the stuff on the stock- it will leave white or grey stains on some species of wood.

The cheapest method I know is lemon juice( any acidic fruit juice will do, including vinegar) and salt. Put a drop or two of juice on a cleaning patch, or go ahead and soak it if you are cleaning a lot of brass, and then put the salt on the damp surface after wiping the surface with the juice. The salt begins immedicately to remove the tarnish. Use the patch to rub and move the salt around with more juice, and the brass comes clean. Just rinse with water, and dry. To keep it shiny, spray with Lacque, and let dry.

If you stop in a motorcycle shop, ask them if they carry Semichrome. It comes in a small tube and is pink in color. It runs about seven bucks a small tube, but will last years. It is made in Germany, and like Ballistol, it is amazing!!!
Put a very small amount on a clean cotton cloth and it will take off oxidation off of any metal with VERY little effort. I have polished dingy aluminium to a mirror shine in minutes. I have tried everything mentioned above plus other products and NOTHING works like Semichrome

don1836 said:

Any recommendations on shining the brass fixtures?(ie butt and side plates, thimbles etc). This is for a Harper's pistol.

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If it's brass that's been uncared for and has a lot of old patina on it, buy a couple bottles of White Vinegar (cheap) at the grocery store, remove the brass and let them sit submerged in a bowl full of the WV for a couple days to remove most of that...then shine the brass up normally.
All my TC Hawkens have brass and I've just used regular old brasso on them...keeps them showroom ready.

I tried the never-dull but personally I found it easier to use a large section of old wash cloth with brasso on it than using a piece of cotton pulled out of the never-dull can...but that's just me.