Re-laquering solid brass door handles

[Caecilius]

The clear lacquer has worn off some 25-year old solid brass door handles and they're looking tatty. I'm sure they're solid and not plated. Does anyone know how to remove the old lacquer and re-lacquer them?

I'm thinking I should be able to remove the old laquer with a solvent

- maybe acetone?

The big question is which lacquer should I use to re-coat them, and can I get a decent finish with a brush? (I don't have a sprayer). I don't want to have to re-do them again after a couple of years, so I want to ensure I use the correct stuff first time.

Google has led me to lots of superficial articles, but none of them go into the details of the process and the correct choice of lacquer.

Any ideas would be welcome.

[Dave Liquorice]

Presumably look tatty because some areas are still covered by lacquer and others have tarnished.

Personally I'd take the handles off the door remove all the old laquer with paint striper and lightly polish to vaguely even out the appearance a bit then just refit. I'd not re lacquer, it'll only fail again. Over time the brass will lovely patina from wear and use.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Well can you get them off, are they knob type handles? I remember a friend of mine getting a local plating company to strip them then had them dipped in a polyurethane coating of some sort. The looked really great at the time. Of course quit how you find the right company who will do it for a reasonable price is another thing. Brian

[Martin Brown]

Carborundum paper working to finer grades and elbow grease followed by brass polish to restore the surface finish. You will probably have to do this anyway because the exposed brass will have small pits in by now.

If they are plated then you may find out the hard way.

It is quite likely cross linked so that it might soften a bit if dunked in acetone for while but I wouldn't be too sure. If you can find some old methylene chloride paint stripper that might work...

Yatch varnish intended for brass fittings on super yatchs was my choice for this job. I have no idea how much it costs now. It was expensive a couple of decades ago even with an employee discount.

How good a finish you will be able to get with a brush depends critically on your skill and applying exactly the right amount of paint.

You will have to practice on similar shaped objects to perfect your technique before doing the things you want to look good and last.

The other key thing is that cleanliness is everything in ensuring that the lacquer will key onto the surface and stay put. There must be no traces of grease from fingerprints or any other source on the metal before it is lacquered. If you aren't satisfied with the finish take it off again with solvent sooner rather than later - once it crosslinks to a full cure if is much more difficult to remove.

[Radio Man]

After removing old stuff and before applying new stuff, dip in boiling water and dry. A tip I was taught years ago.

I wouldn?t use a brush get a spray can. We used to do our brass buttons with it.

[Dave Plowman (News]

For something the size of a doorknob, you could just dunk it in the tin of varnish?

I've used clear varnish aerosols. But that doesn't last as long as the original - perhaps a couple of years.

[Caecilius]

Yes, that's exactly what's happened.

Thanks - I'd not thought of just taking them back to brass without lacquering.

[Caecilius]

They're lever type handles, and they come off easily - just four screws securing them to the wooden doors.

Not sure I can f>Well can you get them off, are they knob type handles? I remember a friend

[nothanks]

We have a large number of Crittall window casements, each with brass (often bronze-plated, I think) handles, catches, brackets, etcetera. I'm slowly restoring the windows and this involves getting 80 years of tarnish and careless paint off all this brassware. Paint stripper and hydrochloric acid works well on whatever paint and coating is present, followed by a laborious buffing with metal polish on a rotating pad in a fixed drill and a final tweak with a dremel in the more (ahem) intimate areas. Each opening casement has at least 7 bits of brassware so there are many hundreds of parts and, unless I can outsource it, coating them isn't viable at the moment. It's slightly sad to see the ones I did about a year ago slowly losing their shiny splendour. Some polishes claim to delay tarnishing and it would be very interesting to hear whether any do what they say.

[Caecilius]

I was afraid this might be the case.

If the old lacquer will have polymarised (sp?) then you're probably right. I remember nitromors paint stripper used to be mostly methylene chloride, but I think they changed the formula.

That's a good idea - thanks.

Some good advice - thanks again.

[Caecilius]

Wouldn't this create runs and drips? I can't imagine getting a good finish this way.

I thought this would be the case, hence the question. There are lots of "quick fixes" like this on youtube etc, but most of them don't last and I don't want to re-do them all in a couple of years.

[The Natural Philosopher]

OTOH the lacquer is almost certainly a cellulose lacquers and model aircraft dope thinners or MEK will remove it, and model aircraft dope or a spray on clear lacquer will replace it one the brass is burnished back to a finish

Or you could coat in a clear casting resin of some sort for a seriously slick and almost bombproof finish

[The Natural Philosopher]

here you go:

or

[Dave Plowman (News]

Put it on a spare (clean) spindle and let it dry knob uppermost (in a vice etc). Any runs will then be where they don't show.

[fred]

Brass needs a special type of lacquer. Methacrylate is recommended. But Google for brass lacquer