Brass furniture/Patina or Shiny ?

[Emet Huntsman]

Hmmmmm -- grind a brick to dust then polish the brass. I know a DS or two who would have preferred that process. :wink:
As I said, a LOT more work than slathering on Brasso and wiping off. :rotf:

 

[rabjr]

Yes and I seem to have read that at some point the practice was stopped when they realized they were thinning and ruining the barrels on their Muskets over time. :hmm:

 

[ebiggs1]

I work part-time as a maintenance man for a musical instrument maker in Olathe, Kansas and he has every know method of shining brass, or any metal for that matter. He also has methods that will keep it shined for very, very long periods of time. I like mine shinny as possible but I am not very good at keeping it that way even with those resources at my fingertips. As for deer hunting, I go for the love of the hunt, love of the rifle and association so I am not disappointed if I get nothing, shinny isn’t a concern. As to whether the old timers kept their brass shinny, I suspect some did and some didn’t. There had to be lovers of the tool back than as now.

 

[David W.]

Maybe a silly question but my jaeger has about 5 years of patina on the brass furniture(R.E. Davis). Do ya'll think that historically the brass was left to age or do you think folks liked to keep their prized firearms shined up? I play with the idea of this jaeger being carried by a militia man years after it was built.Perhaps a hand-me-down weapon pressed into service or something. Humor me. Sometimes I just get an itch to do something to my rifle and I have a can of Never-Dull looking at me. I know it boils down to personal preference but I'm just asking for opinions.

I was in the Navy and have fond memories of polishing brass. :barf: :surrender: Make your own choice, but I personally think brass looks better dull. :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Rottenstone IS brick dust, for the most part. You can buy it at paint stores, and many hardware stores. Take a rag, dip it in oil, and then dip the oiled rag into the rottenstone, to apply it to polishing brass, or other metal surfaces. You can take a hammer to small amounts of rottenstone to produce even finer grits( altho' I have never found the need), and use it to polish furniture fine finishes, like varnished wood. As long as the rag is oiled, and the surface you want to polish is FIRST oiled, rottenstone is a fine abrasive that will do wonders to any metal or wood finish. If you are removing thick corrosion or rust, leave the metal bare when first using the abrasive. After the rust or corrosion is removed, THEN oil the metal liberally, and polish the surface with a lightly rubbed rag with rottenstone held to the rag by oil in the rag.

Soap and water will remove the oil and rottenstone.

 

[hanshi]

I prefer shiny brass but am just too lazy to keep it bright, thus....dull metal on all the guns.

By the way, what ever became of Blitz Cloth? That's what we used when I was in the army back in the 60s.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Are you sure of the spelling? There is a company that puts out a polishing medium called " Flitz", that I believe once made a cloth impregnated with the compound. I don't know if its still for sale. :idunno: :thumbsup:

 

[Emet Huntsman]

I remember the "Blitz" cloth. Not fondly though :wink:
But back to the thread -- I like the look of the patina on my brass -- a brownish color, not the green of corrosion. I've tried it both ways and found my preference.

 

[Jaegermeister]

I used the 'ol Nevr-Dull last night and shined up all the brass furniture on it. Shore looks purty but I find that both looks appeal to me. I'll let her build up another patina for a while and keep the cycle going. Thanks for all the opinions. I'll get this photobucket thing going and post up some pics. Jim

 

[hanshi]

Yeah, I'm sure it was "Blitz". I remember one sergeant saying he'd been using the same cloth for ten years. I used mine, brought it home and used it and finally lost it somehow. If I could get my hands on another one I might start polishing the guns again since I do prefer shiny.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Well, here's a website for the clothe.
http://www.blitzinc.net/

I am sure they can tell you the nearest source. If you have a major jewelry store near you, give them a call to see if they sell them. You might also find them at the Discount stores that have jewelry departments. :surrender: :thumbsup:

 

[Frank/Pa]

I like a natural patina. Shiny brass looks gawdy to me.

 

[fiftycal]

I like it patina. I have even gone so far as to remove all the brass pieces from my gun and use Birchwood Casey Gun Bluing to darken it. It turns it a nice dark "antiqued" color. Then I put a coat of clear lacquer over it to keep it that way. The lacquer will work well to protect a polished brass finish as well.

Jim

 

[Trench]

I don't have a historical answer other really. This might be one of those things that was also personal preference back then, too. I personally like a rifle to look likes it's done some work. So, I go for the patina.

 

[buzz]

have owned many brass era cars and if you polish do it all but miss one little area and it wont matter how good the rest was done
for me i start with it shiny and polished but never touch it again
gun blueing will turn or age brass

 

[rabjr]

I have to think most of our fore fathers had a lot of other things on their mind besides polishing the brass on their guns. When would they find the time? Of course, a wealthy land owner would have slaves and no problem finding someone to do it if he wanted. :hmm:

 

[Zonie]

"...When would they find the time?..."
------
Maybe after supper?
I know it's hard to believe but it is my understanding that the TV's, VCR's, DVD's and computers back in those days didn't work very well so, besides reading by a candle or an oil lamp there wasn't much to do.

To my thinking, sitting there gently polishing a little brass on your favorite rifle might have been a pleasant experience?

Anyway, my answer to the OP when it comes to the private citizen is there are some folks who like things to look new and polished and their are others who don't care about that sort of thing as long as whatever it is works like it should.

There is the guy down the street that is constantly cleaning and waxing his car and there is the guy next door that owns an old pickup that hasn't been washed for 5 years.

People haven't changed during the past 250 years and the folks back then are the same as the folks now.

 

[hanshi]

Thanks for the info, Paul.

 

[paulvallandigham]

When I used to display guns on a gun rack, or in a glass covered case, I would polish the brass for show. But, for hunting, I always dulled the brass by using a bit of paste made from black Powder, and water, dipping a cleaning patch on it, and then rubbing the paste on the brass.

I Never have considered patina or shiney an " either/or " question. You can do them both.

Now, British troops were required to keep everything shiney, as they fought as Units,in ranks that fired volleys at their enemies, and then attacked the enemy with fixed bayonets. The Red Uniform coats, contrasted by the white pants, and vests, with the white straps across their chests, and all the shiney brass was considered a NOBLE and "in your face" presentation to the enemy, daring them to have enough courage to face the force, might, and courage of the British Army. This was a carry over from Medieval Fighting when Nobles were mounted on Horses, wearing polished armor, that announced to their enemies their status, their willingness to engage in physical combat, and their courage in the face of enemy soldiers. The Flashier the clothes, and armor, the better. It helped their Generals better see how the battle was going and who was gaining ground.

Once the rifle came on the scene, the ability of Britain's enemies to annihilate British forces before they could engage changed battle tactics, and, eventually, uniforms used. It was, sadly, NOT until the advent of machine guns in WWI that the Brits finally stopped sending their armies in human wave charges. Hundreds of thousands of British Soldiers were slaughtered needlessly, and it broke the British Empire. The Stalemate in that War only ended when Tanks were introduced to the battlefields, allowing crews to kill enemy machine gun crews fast enough that British( and American) forces could push the Germans back off the battlefields.

Today, It would be difficult to find any fighting force still using guns with shiny metal showing. "Shine" is something that belongs on sporting arms, for display, but poses some problems in the field, even when just hunting game. Yes, there have been plenty of deer taken with shiny guns. But, there also have been lots of deer lost to hunters with shiny guns because sunlight reflecting off the metal spooked the deer.

Still, its a personal choice. When guns spend 90% of the time in a gun rack, its silly to say one must NOT polish the brass on the gun. :hatsoff:

 

[rabjr]

Thanks for letting me know there was no TV's, VCR's, DVD's and computers back in those days...

I don't see it, most people back then had other things to worry about after supper than get their can of Brasso out and start polishing but if you want to believe it, I guess it's true.

There are a lot of people today who believe anything shiney on their hunting guns is taboo and I'm sure there was a lot of that going on back then. And when it comes to a man needing to feed his family with his gun, I'm willing to bet there wasn't a whole lot of polishing going on by the avg man.