Instead of using chemical brass cleaners this time I used a cloth wheel with buffing compound, going slow with a Dremel tool. Question I have is, should I finish up using on non-ammonia brass cleaner? There’s minor pitting and I don’t feel it’s a good idea to buff away brass when I just want to get the dark color out so it eventually gets an even patina. This Svea is not going to be a shelf queen, rather a backup that probably won’t get used much. Below are pre-buffed and posted buffed examples, and the little cloth wheel that actually shows brass on it.
@GeneH Hi, Are you positive that that is corrosion? In the picture it reminds me of burnt in food spills. I am trying to use less abasive methods on brass, a couple of days soak in water and detergent does wonders.... But fossilized food does not dissolve in water. Since my patience generally fails me I usually resort to fine steel wool or scraping with some handy implement. If it is burnt food it should be possible to scrape it off. If it is corrosion it ought to be greenish (verdigris). Love the buffing wheel! Good luck! Lars
Yeah that could have been food spills - good catch. Looking again I see 3 all in line, one outside, one inside top, and one inside bottom under the hole in the heat shield. They are charred on so well as to be flat, not build up crud, and did leave really minor pitting so I bet they were old food spills. Doing things like buffing that stuff off is for those times when I need to just do something, but not at all complicated or challenging ... zen moments with my Dremel...
@GeneH It was @Trojandog who mentioned Autosol, but I also use it (I buy it in a large tin rather than the tube). I use Autosol Metal polish. Cheers Tony
I don't use polish to remove black crap. Polish is for polishing. First I soak the item in a weak citric acid solution. It's better to soak six times in a weak solution than once in a strong solution. In between each soak, clean with the finest grade steel wool you can get (0000 grade here in the UK). Once you have only brass remaining, buff all over with 0000-grade wool. Then polish using a Dremel with felt wheel and polishing compound designed for brass (in the UK I find that the green compound works best). You will find that after buffing with the steel wool it will take very little polishing to get a mirror finish. In fact, sometimes just the buffing with wool is sufficient. To remove any swirl marks left by the polishing I use 'Nilcoshine' metal polish and a soft cloth. Unfortunately, it is no longer made but I was lucky enough to buy a box full at a car boot sale some years ago. I then wait two days for the 'just polished' look to fade before I give it two coats of Rustin's Metal Lacquer (if the item is not to be subject to high heat). Terry
We all have our different ways to clean and polish. Personally I never use steel wool. It is much harder than brass and leaves very fine scratches on the surface of the brass, which then have to be polished out. Autosol alone will remove all the black and then polish at the same time. This is the Autosol I use.
I have found that Flitz brand tumbler media additive works very well. It is used as an additive to corn cob and walnut hull medias in vibratory tumblers used to clean and polish brass cartridge casings prior to reloading. The formula contains no ammonia and gives a nice luster.
Update on the clean up of that stove: I purchased Autosol on Amazon, used it, then started second guessing myself thinking I have the wrong Autosol product. As it turns out the packaging in the UK, Australia, and US are slightly different. An Autosol product support rep let me know the USA branded doesn't say "Original." The buffing did work really well then an overall polishing with Autosol and I'm happy with the results.
@GeneH I forgot to mention the I use Autosol in combination with a Dremel-type polishing pad. By hand the cleaning and polishing takes a long time, but with the Dremel it takes a tiny fraction of the time.
