On 2/21/2012 11:43 AM, Swingman wrote:
On 2/21/2012 10:23 AM, Steve Turner wrote:

Clear lacquer works great over brass; they've been doing it for years on
brass instruments like trumpets and trombones. I don't know if the
cymbal companies use lacquer or something else (and of course, cymbals
are made of bronze, not brass), but it seems to work well in that
context too, at least until you've worn the coating off with repeated
thrashings. :-)

I did this very thing once, exactly 49 years ago this summer, in
England, using what was sold over the counter at the time as "egg shell
varnish" (? I have no idea). I polished the brass and put on two coats
of same with a nail polish brush.

An 18th century French carriage clock, which thereafter sat on my
parents dresser for 47 of those 49 years without being touched, and
although the brass did tarnish, it has only done so in the last two of
those 49 years:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1113554...22993203924674


This thread is of vital interest to me as my original intention was to
re-do it every fifty years ... one more year to go before the first
scheduled maintenance.

(for the curious: the rocks on top belong to one of our pups (a true
rockhound), and are part of her prized collection of rare jewel pebbles
which she collects on walks, carries back to the house in her mouth,
then drops on the kitchen floor next to the window ... apparently only
because she can't reach the sill).

That's kind of like garage furniture, if you just buy it or it is given
it to you, it's just not the same! Some in my family have "hoarding"
tendencies too. I think she drops them on the kitchen floor for your
approval--maybe an "atta-girl" or something like that! : )