# brass,shining?



## guts (Aug 2, 2006)

Just getting into the bullet pen making stage of the crazyness,question what is the best method for shining the brass before the powder coat,tried 00 steel wool then brass polish but still gettin scratches in the brass,maybe there is no solution because the brass is so soft,tia,and donn't call me Tia from now on.


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## alamocdc (Aug 2, 2006)

Bill, I haven't done this for powder coating yet, but I've used a white metal polish that I buy for keeping the crome and polished aluminum of my Harley shiney and it works pretty well. Have you tried Brasso, or equivalents?


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## guts (Aug 2, 2006)

Billy,i bought some Wrights brass polish at the grocery store and it shines about like brasso(and believe me i've used plenty of brasso)also had some mag wheel polish, paste form that works good but the little lines are still there,thanks.


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## Jerryconn (Aug 2, 2006)

The bullet pen I just posted was shined up with Brasso,  I think it did pretty good.
The casing was beat up when I got it,I mounted it on the lathe and used sanding sponges and MM to do the clean up but I could not get it all out.  I intend to use Brasso on all the casings in the future (unless someone comes along with a better suggestion).  I just bought a bag of .308 casings I plan on making quit a few for a upcoming show.


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## Rifleman1776 (Aug 2, 2006)

Inidvidually, Simichrome is excellent. Find in antique shops. In quantity, the same way reloaders do it, in a vibrator.


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## guts (Aug 2, 2006)

Jerry,i had some used casings,but they were marked up quite a bit,so i went to the range not far from here and bought some new 30.06 casings,much easier to work with but still soft metal,Frank,thanks for the tip,lots of antique shops around here.


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## reed43 (Aug 2, 2006)

I have never power coated,so my question is will the small scratches show through the power coat once it is baked on.


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## Penmonkey (Aug 2, 2006)

Brasso works like a charm, for me.


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## baldysm (Aug 2, 2006)

Nope, fine scratches wont show through the powder coat. In fact scratches, fine or not, probably wont show through.


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## RussFairfield (Aug 2, 2006)

BRASSO

23-million GIs can't be wrong.


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## emackrell (Aug 2, 2006)

Brasso and a soft eraser.  

use the eraser (a normal pinkish-red handheld eraser, same stuff as is on a pencil but bigger) to buff out the scratches.  Slowly.  It will take a while but they will come out.  Then use a soft rag and the Brasso.  Be advised that once you have used Brasso on a piece of brass once, plan on using it again now and then, say every seven or eight minutes, until you get the thing anodized, lacquered or powder coated.  It strips the brass down to nice bright shiny brass which then tarnishes in the time it took you to blink (or pass a uniform inspection, depending).

(Hunh, and I thought I'd forgotten all that AOCS stuff from 26 years ago...)

cheers  Eileen  [8D]


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## guts (Aug 3, 2006)

Eileen,tried the eraser and it works great,i was amazed,thanks,good tip.


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## bonefish (Aug 3, 2006)

A fine, white rouge on a buffing wheel is the best and quickest way of removing the scratches, and also to get a mirror polish.

At HF, I bought a mounted buffing wheel and a block of the finest rouge they had in stock, which is usually white. I have never had any success with the red and brown rouges, and the black is course, for heavy cutting.

A mounted wheel is just an arbor that fits in the chuck, and you attach a cloth wheel to it. A diameter of 4 to 6 inches is sufficient. Mount the buffing wheel, turn on the lathe, touch the rouge to the spinning wheel to get rouge on the wheel, and polish. The rouge slings off, so you might have to apply the rouge several times to polish a cartridge case. I run mine pretty fast--2 to 3 thousand RPM.

You can also mount the arbor and wheel in a drill press.

The brass I have is old, with a lot of tarnish. I insert it in the lathe chuck and polish with 220 grit paper, if it is really tarnished and scratched, then go to 400 grit paper. If in fairly good condition, with just discolaration, I start with 400 grit paper, then use the buffing wheel. The buffing wheel and compound will remove the 400 grit quickly, leaving a mirror polish.

I have used the mounted wheel and white rouge to polish stabilized wood and antler and the PR blanks. It will also polish fine sanded wood pretty good, but the shine is only temporary. Do not use anything but white rouge on wood. The red and brown will get in the pores of the wood, making an unsightly mess.

If you are inclined to do it, the buffing wheel will also remove the gold plating from the metal parts, leaving a smooth finish.

Hope this helps.

Bonefish


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## Sylvanite (Aug 3, 2006)

As a reloader I would never use Brasso on a case.  Brasso contains ammonia which weakens the brass by dissolving copper out of it.  I use Frankford Arsenal polish which does not harm brass.

As a pen turner, I don't think it makes a practical difference.  There's no way you're going to remove enough copper to damage a case for use in a pen.

If the case is spinning on a lathe (either in a chuck or on a mandrel), then steel wool will remove tarnish and shine it up instantly.  I use 0000, rather than 00 though.  No visible scratches and a light touch of brass polish afterwards makes it look like new.

Sometimes, I'll take a scraper to the case rim to fix any concentricity problems (if the case head abuts a turned blank).  Sandpaper followed by steel wool takes care of the resultant tool marks.

Regards,
Eric


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## GregMuller (Aug 3, 2006)

How would you polish a nickle plated cartridge. I made 45-70 out of a ciagr kit useing nickle plate but am not happy with the caseing. I want to get it to a finer finish.


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## ed4copies (Aug 3, 2006)

As we are all looking for more information on the site, I went to my favorite "authority" on brass and powder coating.  

The following response came in my e-mail today from Eagle:


 "would like to reply to it because Since I have been making them for about a year and a half, I have my own observations.
The guy who posted that the scratches don't show throw powder coat must be coating with color because the 85 % clear seems to magnify them.
If they are NOT going to be powder coated, putting them on the mandrel and running a swatch of nevr dull over the casing and wiping with a paper towel to clean off the residue makes polishing them a 15 second chore.
What hasn't been said is to what degree are they trying to polish?
I can clean and make a dented beat up casing shines like a baby's , well you know what I mean but the dents and major scratches are just that shiny dents and scratches.
I think for the clear coat(PC) just as in a plated one, a perfect"lipstick tubes" is warranted maybe not so much for the clear coat as the gold plated one but that is my preference.
For ones that are meant to be polished,(unfinished) then I Don't think the surface needs to be as "pristine but again that is my opinion.
(we all know what everyone thinks of my opinions.) "

Take it for what it is worth.  Eagle has been working on "Perfecting" a shell casing design and, to that end, has consulted with professional powder coaters as well as doing significant experimentation.  He knows whereof he speaks!!


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## Fangar (Aug 3, 2006)

> _Originally posted by baldysm_
> <br />Nope, fine scratches wont show through the powder coat. In fact scratches, fine or not, probably wont show through.



I use a buffing wheel with a soft metal compound.  But this statement is not true with clear.  It will still show the fine scratches and swirls, if they are there before, they will be amplified by the clear.

Fangar


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## guts (Aug 3, 2006)

James thanks for posting that,i was just about to say the same thing,i'm looking at one right now and you can see the buffing marks for sure,i think he was talking about colored p.c.


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## Fangar (Aug 3, 2006)

Color PC will for sure cover fine and most scratches.  It has excellent adhesion and flows out smooth.  

Fangar


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