# Need a little help here, Lads....



## Tortuga (May 21, 2004)

Got a little problem.. Working on this year's Veteran's Hunt pens for Stumpy.. Sent the cartridges off to Lazerlinez for engraving..and he (finally) did a nice job. Problem is...the brass is tarnishing. Put a couple of them on the lathe and tried some Brasso.. Shined up the pens great....but ...must have dissolved the black sunken portion of the engraving...to where they are almost impossible to read...

My options ?... Guess I could just use the tarnished cartridges (not tarnished too bad)..Might give a little 'outdoor character' to the cartridges...
.
OR...any suggestions from you guys as to polishing the cartridges with something other than Brasso that might not remove the 'readability' of the engraving...In the last pic...top pen is with black in the engraving and bottom one is the one I hit with the brasso...

Any and all suggestions welcomed.....:headknock  

edit...another thought...anybody remember the name of those soft saturated rags we used to use back in the middle ages to polish up the brass buttons and belt buckles on our uniforms ?


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## bill (May 21, 2004)

here's what I would do (and had to do this on some wood pens)

polish them up...then take black shoe polish and rub in the engraving...let dry and wipe clean...the you can either dip poly or lacquer or a CA finish will cover the engraving


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## bill (May 21, 2004)

btw, I'm no longer polishing all the brass, most people I have done one for said they like the tarnished look better

just goes against me for some reason, I like it all shiny but will do what they want


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## State_Vet (Oct 10, 2006)

Bill has a neat idea, i wonder if the chemical they use for "gun blueing" would work also. I cant think of the name of the brass polish, it was cotton and came in a can (brasso made it maybe)


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## Tortuga (May 21, 2004)

bill said:


> here's what I would do (and had to do this on some wood pens)
> 
> polish them up...then take black shoe polish and rub in the engraving...let dry and wipe clean...the you can either dip poly or lacquer or a CA finish will cover the engraving


that sounds like it's worth a try, Bill...Thanks...Do you think I could use some spray on laquer or something as a sealing finish.. CA would really be messy in my hands.. Still want a smooth even finish on the pens...but don't really want to 'dip' them....

and...George..yep..as I recall it came in a little flat tin box like snuff with some 'cute' name...


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## bill (May 21, 2004)

spray on would work fine...might even dry faster


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## Bobby (May 21, 2004)

Have you tried using just plane old car polish to clean them up? It just polishes and don't use any chemicals.


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## speckle-catcher (May 20, 2004)

the "saturated rags" you mentioned...Nevr-Dull is a similar product.

works great for polishing brass, and forbidden in basic training barracks when I was on active duty.


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## Tortuga (May 21, 2004)

All this talk about 'soldiering' and uniforms brought to mind my favorite poet.. Rudyard Kipling....

Here's a couple of his best..regarding the British Tommy..

http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/tommy.html

　
http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/young_british_soldier.html

MAN...this is a PRIMO hijack of my own thread....:rotfl:


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## State_Vet (Oct 10, 2006)

speckle-catcher said:


> the "saturated rags" you mentioned...Nevr-Dull is a similar product.
> 
> works great for polishing brass, and forbidden in basic training barracks when I was on active duty.


thats it!
http://www.nevrdull.com/What.htm


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## bassguitarman (Nov 29, 2005)

http://www.brownells.com/1/1/38935-brass-black-brass-black-birchwood-casey.html

I come from a family of jewelers. This is our favorite polishing cloth:

http://www.sunshinepolishingcloth.com/


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