Polishing Brass

[Sawdust]

I was polishing a casing with Brasso for an order last night. I was just thinking, "I wonder what plastic polish would do to brass." I put some on the cotton rag and polish just like with Brasso. It turned the cloth black just like Brasso. When I switch to a clean spot on the cloth to wipe it off I was amazed at how nice the casing looked. I repeated two more times and then looked at the casing with a 10X loupe. It had a much more scratch free surface that the one done with Brasso. Has anyone else done this? I guess I hadn't realized (smelled) the solvent in plastic polish before. It really attacked the brass the same as metal polish. I guess I had figured the formulation was for plastics only. Must just be a grit thing.

[Crickett]

I would guess that is why some people prefer the brasso to shine the plastic, whereas others use plastic polish????

Glad you where able to step out of your comfort zone and live a little!! :p You're making progress little buddy, and don't let anyone tell you any different!!! :rolleyes: ;)

[Nick from Minden]

Hey Sawdust;
Polishing brass has always been a bit of a pain for me even since my uniform wearing days. I stopped using Brasso the first time I got demerits for stains on my jack which would not brush out. I switched to a product called Flitz, wich can be purchased at the local CT store. When I taught shop we used Flitz on Acrylic plastic to polish edges and then in the music department I used it to polish the valve stems of the instruments; made them sparkle. I found the Flitz to be very easy to use and not as abrasive as other compounds. It just took the grunge of the stems and polished the metal underneath to high lustre.:):)
I hope this is of some service.

Nick.

[Brad]

Brasso is a course grit polish meant to remove the tarnish quickly. Most plastic polishes are finer grit and will create finer scratch marks. The black comes from the oxidized brass (tarnish) which is "sanded" off during the polishing.