Do You Have a Buffing Wheel?

Do you have brass items on your boat?

If you do, then you will be familiar with the slow, inevitable change that comes over brass when it i exposed to moisture and sea air... it turns dark and dingy. In fact this is a form of corrosion.  And woe unto you if a drop of salt water should come in contact with the brass - the surface layer will de-zincify, leaving behind just straight copper.

So what is the solution?  Well I don't have a solution that will protect the brass indefinitely - clear spray paint works for a while.  But how do you get it shiny before you apply the clear spray paint?

One method is to use Brasso - it works and does a wonderful job (if you use the old formulation).  But it is a *LOT* of work, making it practical for only a few small items.

The solution for large items, or for a large number of items is a buffing wheel.

So, what is that?  It is a disk made up of multiple layers of cloth sewn together until the disk is 1/2" - 3/4" thick.  You mount it on your grinder (after removing one of the grinding wheels, of course).

When you buy the buffing wheel, also get a stick of Rouge - this is a wax-based polishing compound  that will give you a jewelry finish.  If your corrosion is severe, then get a second disk and a stick of Tripoli (never use a single disk with multiple compounds).  You would use the Tripoli to clean up things and then the rouge for final polish.

Fire up the grinder, touch the Rouge to the edge of the spinning disk briefly, and apply the brass.  You'll be able to tell when more Rouge is needed - polishing will slow down or cease.  This process generates heat and brass is an excellent conductor of heat - gloves are recommended. And while we are talking about safety, dangling clothing, long hair, etc must be kept well away from the spinning wheel. Since the spinning wheel will shed threads during the polishing, safety glasses must be worn.  Finally, be careful - the wheel will try to grab the fitting out of your hands and fling it at the wall with great speed. When polishing near an edge, arrange things so that the surface of the spinning wheel is moving off of the edge instead of onto it.

Light fixtures from Eolian.  The shade in the foreground has not yet been polished.

(The chances are that the brass fixture you are about to polish was originally coated with clear spray paint.  You can polish this off with the buffing wheel, but it is much faster to remove it first with a little paint stripper.)

Before spraying with the clear, wipe off the fittings with paint thinner to remove the residual wax from the polishing compound.

Well, it turns out that I have talked about this before - I am beginning to repeat myself...

Do You Have a Buffing Wheel?