Refinishers: Would you restore brasses too?

[lpolizzi]

When refinishing an antique would it be better to leave the tranished darkened brasses as is or to bring them back to their shiny condition?

[Andy]

I would polish them shiny, if possible, to be consistent with the rest of the new-condition antique. That is totally up to you, though - what look are you going for?

[Andy Dingley]

Depends on the condition and whether they really need it. In general, leave them alone. If you do _have_to_ clean them, then they may need to be re-patinated afterwards.

[Baron]

If you are refinishing an antique to look like a brand new piece of furniture, then you should do the same to the brasses. You might wish to be something under bright and shiny as it will draw too much attention away from the wood.

If you are restoring the piece to look like a clean, well preserved antique, you should bring the brasses to the same level. They should be cleaned but the amount of patination remaining should be in keeping with the appearance of the rest of the piece.

Good Luck.

[Doug Miller]

Man, I gotta quit reading the wreck before the coffee kicks in. I read the title of the thread as "Would you restore brassieres?"

[Robert Bonomi]

May I refer you to a thread several years ago in 'alt.home.automation' Where somebody posted a request about a "bar code reader", and managed to transpose the last two letters of the first word. The ensuing 60+ messages are _quite_ humorous. Including the guy who opined that such a gizmo would be a mis-application of technology, that this was one of those situations where it was 'far preferable' to do it manually.

[mike hide]

I usually polish them out as they were originally besides being a usable addition also used to dress upthe piece .If this were not the case then why are so many so fancy.

I say polish them out and do not laquer them let them tarnish normally . By the way there is very little if any patination on the brasses compared to the wooden areas ......mjh

[lpolizzi]

[Baron]

The idea is to go slowly and if you over do it, completely clean the brasses and repatinate them.

It is quite likely that the brasses have a top coat of lacquer. This means that you should gently clean the brasses as you would a piece of furniture with a lacquer finish. Try mild soap in water and dry quickly. Try this even if the brasses are not coated with lacquer. Follow up the soap water with some mineral spirits. Again, use little and be gentle.

If cleaning doesn't give you what you want, you may need to strip off whatever lacquer remains and then try a small amount of brass cleaner in a very gentle manner. Use very little and be gentle with it. If you over do it, you can always repatinate but it becomes a game like trimming sideburns.

Good Luck.