How do you keep bronze bright?
 

You could polish weekly. I've also polished then sprayed with 10-15
coast of clear polyurethane, and they will stay "shiny" for a few
months, but you'll be sorry when they finally tarnish and you've got to
take all that PU off. There is a new product called Nyalic that seems
promising, but I haven't tried it. http://www.nyalic.com/

On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 10:19:32 GMT, ahoy wrote:

Hi, I recently polished up the bronze fittings on a small skiff. It
took less than three weeks for them to turn brown and green and scuzzy
again. Do you have to polish weekly or can you paint it with varnish
or urethane or something? Thanks and keep sanding.


Here's how to keep your bronze bright and shiny for a long time with
ordinary care etc., etc.
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Ready?
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Have them gold-plated

Brian Whatcott

In article ,
says...


On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 10:19:32 GMT, ahoy wrote:

Hi, I recently polished up the bronze fittings on a small skiff. It
took less than three weeks for them to turn brown and green and scuzzy
again. Do you have to polish weekly or can you paint it with varnish
or urethane or something? Thanks and keep sanding.


Here's how to keep your bronze bright and shiny for a long time with
ordinary care etc., etc.

Have them gold-plated

Hmmmm. Might cost less than you think.

For exterior bronze:
Mechancial polishing using jewelers rouge and a high speed buffing
wheel, followed by several heavy coats of 2-part (catalyzed)
acrylic/urethane clear. For me this lasts about 2-1/2 years - if the
coating remains intact. When the coating eventually fails, simple
paste type paint remover will lift the acrylic/urethane ... a light
power-buff and recoat is all thats needed for another 30 months.

If you use 'chemical' polishes you must totally remove them before
coating, etc.
Dont bother with spray-on clear urethane or clear lacquer as its too
air/water vapor permeable and will allow re-tarnish in a ust few
months.

Otherwise..... rub on a mixture of lime juice, beeswax and olive oil
..... will turn the bronze to a golden brown and will prevent the
'green' from forming. The 'ancients' used this formula to coat their
bronze; when they needed to 'burnish' or polish they simply added fine
pumice to the mix and rubbed hell out it.

I use a product called Honey Teak on all my brightwork and simply use
the 2part clear acrylic/urethane on the bronze after I polish it. HT
is REAL expensive.
Before I started using Honey Teak, I was thinking of Interthane Clear
(a 2part polyurethane) but started to use HT. WM or other mailorder
chandleries can special order the Interthane Clear ... but again its
expensive. You can air-brush interthane (but the vapors, etc. are
downright dangerous).

Honey Teak = www.signaturefinish.com

In article , ahoy
wrote:

On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 18:58:56 GMT, Rich Hampel
wrote:

For exterior bronze:
Mechancial polishing using jewelers rouge and a high speed buffing
wheel, followed by several heavy coats of 2-part (catalyzed)
acrylic/urethane clear. For me this lasts about 2-1/2 years - if the
coating remains intact. When the coating eventually fails, simple
paste type paint remover will lift the acrylic/urethane ... a light
power-buff and recoat is all thats needed for another 30 months.


Thanks Rich, is there a brand name for this two part stuff? Can you
get it at the hardware store? I'm looking at the "big boat", which has
lots of detailed brass aboard. It has no green discoloration and is
kind of a filthy dark brown so maybe they went the olive oil route.
Thanks again.

If you use 'chemical' polishes you must totally remove them before
coating, etc.
Dont bother with spray-on clear urethane or clear lacquer as its too
air/water vapor permeable and will allow re-tarnish in a ust few
months.

Otherwise..... rub on a mixture of lime juice, beeswax and olive oil
.... will turn the bronze to a golden brown and will prevent the
'green' from forming. The 'ancients' used this formula to coat their
bronze; when they needed to 'burnish' or polish they simply added fine
pumice to the mix and rubbed hell out it.