Cleaning brass plate

Hi all,

I'm trying to clean a piece of thin brass plate that has a lot of surface marks (but not deep scratches) can anyone please offer help how to do it ?

Presumably emery cloth will scratch it ? I looked on Google and the suggestion was use tomato sauce but that made no difference.

Here's a pic showing the marks if that's any help.

Many thanks

Peter.

Would a good rub with something like solvol autosol help?

Fine wire wool might be worth a try.

Very fine emery followed by a paste of water and Water of Ayr stone (a mild abrasive) should produce a mat finish. If you want to then polish with Autosol.

I think you will have to go to a jeweler's merchant such as H S Walsh to get Water of Ayr stone. Someone might know of a substitute.

JA

It does depend on whether you want it clean, or clean and smooth, or clean and smooth and shiny.

Many household products (loo cleaner, battery acid, rhubarb juice, etc) will give you clean.

Smooth requires work with abrasives, depending on how deep the roughness is. And ditto shiny, although it is possible to have shiny but rough by omitting the intermediate abrasive processes.

So, please offer a bit more detail about what, exactly, you need.

Cheers, Tim

Hi all,

Thanks for the help.

I want the plate as the base of a small model I'm making, it will then be screwed down to a wooden base/plinth so I really what I'm asking is how do I get rid of the marks and get it shiny ?

Thanks

Peter.

Peter,

Taking domestic advice, try Barkeeper's Friend, widely available in supermarkets and the range of Lakeland stores,.

It will also polish up stainless steel as an added bonus.

Regards

Brian

Red Scotchbrite, followed by Grey then Autosol for polished finish.

I would think that a base for a model should be, 'Grained' that is all the dressing marks to be one way, not polished as that would not be a natural look.

Clive

When people advise a sauce like tomato ketchup it is the vinegar content that is potentially going to have an effect. With such things goig the american way of being sickly sweet rather than tangy there may be no vinegar in it now. Chip shop vinegar is rather more effectve, though one local chippy can be seen just buying Aldi vinegar by the trolley full when it is on sale so that too is not what it used to be.

Another traditional brass cleaner is ammonia. This is present in some domestic glassware cleaners such as Windolene and I tink some kitchen cream cleaners but beware chlorine based ones ie bleach and Mr Muscle.

The above are chemical cleaners to restore somethnig that was ones shiney. From rough to shiney requires abrasive in pogressively finer grades.

Check out these people:-

**LINK**

Some good advice (in my opinion) and supply a wide range of products that cover most needs. (satisfied customer)

With regard to your plate, if it was mine and with a distinct aversion to hard labour, I would mount it on a temporary backing board, polish with suitable grade buffing wheels and then hand finish as necessary.

Mike

Don't forget toothpaste is a very fine abrasive!

Also good for emergency CD / DVD repairs!

David.

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Peter,

Tim Stevens made an excellent point about the distinction between smoothness and shininess ... it is simple enough to put a shine on what you have, but you wil only have polished the marks, not removed them.

Could you please let us know the size of this plate? ... From the photo, it has the appearance of an extruded strip rather than a rolled plate.

If you just want 'shiny' then just polish along the grain, but if you want 'smooth' then you need to work by stages, using successively finer abrasives: First at right angles to the existing grain, to remove that pattern; then at right angles to that, using a finer abrasive ... Repeat until you have a satisfactory surface [or until you can take-it no more].

MichaelG.

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P.S. ... Clive's suggestion of 'graining' is a very valid option [just check how much kitchen equipment is produced in that effect] ... use an abrasive similar in grit size to the deepest of the existing marks, and work only along the exitsing grain.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 29/06/2015 08:59:58

Hi all,

Many thanks for everyone help, that's certainly given me a few things to try.

I take the point about a grain effect is more natural and I really don't mind having a grain all I'm trying to do is make it presentable as a base plate to a small model steam engine I'm building. If the engine turns out ok I intend to give it someone as a gift so I want something that looks ok when fixed down to a wooden plinth / base board.

As for the strip itself I'm a newbie to this so I don't know if it's an extruded strip or not, but the piece I have is 3mm thick and approx. 300mm x 100mm (though I can see it's been cut from a larger piece) I only want to use about half its length.

Here's a better photo showing the marks if that helps to tell what they are.

Many thanks

Peter.

Thanks for the extra info. Peter

100mm is about the maximum width for an extrusion, but It doesn't really matter anyway.

At that size, I would definitely go for the 'graining' option !!

MichaelG.

Hi Peter Nichols

The marks on the brass appear to be extrusion marks, they vary quite a lot in thickness. If you are trying to attain a fine grained finish you have to even the grain to a fairly consistent height, a levelling process.

If I was doing it I would use wet and dry sandpaper used wet with water to which a little detergent has been added. keep the water in a small bowl, just dip the sheet in to keep it wet. The water does several things it washes away the chips stopping them from clogging the paper, it gives a very nice finish and it makes sanding effort a lot easier.

When refining a surface it always saves time to use various grades of any abrasive working your way down grade by grade to the required finish.

"Wet and dry" comes in many grades Maybe start with 320 grade and see if you like the finish. You can go up to 1200 grade which will give a very fine but not polished surface. The grades refer to the size of screen used to sort the abrasive particles the higher the number the finer the abrasive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpaper

When you buy the sheets of wet and dry also get a cork block, the supplier will have them. I always cut my sheets into 4 quarters you will find they fit nicely around the block. Make sure you do not work across the grain or you will spoil the finish. apply long even strokes. The block will save effort and protect your hands while applying an even force to the paper.

Oh and save all the old pieces of paper just like old men and old wine they mature!. Until the last vestige of abrasive is gone you will find them useful around the workshop. Older sheets will give a finer finish. I keep mine in an open container with a weight on top so they don't curl up when they are drying out.

Regards
John

Edited By John McNamara on 29/06/2015 09:19:06

Edited By John McNamara on 29/06/2015 09:23:30

A nice alternative to graining is spotting. It's used on everything from fine watch movements to car engine compartments and dashboards.

Russell

If you go for the, Graining' method do both sides as taking materiel of one side can cause the drawn/rolled metal to warp slightly. It will still be in a hard state so it maybe worth annealing as well, Heat it up and dunk it in cold water and you will find it much easier to work and file. It also reduces stresses in the metal. Also consider what finish you will apply to the final job as brass will not stay pristine for long. A suggestion is a thin coating of cellulose thinned 50 x 50. applied on a slightly warmed plate. I have used clear Acrylic spray which is quite durable.

Clive

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Clive,

With all due respect that's the worse thing you can do. At the moment he's got a piece of extruded plate that is usually very well finished and flat. Heating this up with anything the home shop can deliver and throwing in cold water is more liable to warp the plate.

As regards taking metal off both sides, usually good advise but in this case we are talking scotchbrite amount of metal removal, not a breeze block followed by a London brick

I generally use Garryflex blocks for first stage cleaning, you can work down through the grit sizes, and then move on to polishing products if you want to make it shiny after removing any surface marks.

http://www.polishingjewellery.co.uk/acatalog/Sanding-Blocks_Garyflex.html

Phil