Brasso, yes or no?

jamesfrmphilly · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2004 1:09 pm Post subject:

would you use it on a raw brass finish to remove a stain?
_________________
1946 Martin Committee, Bach 5V

Welk · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2004 2:41 pm Post subject:

Use silver polish... will always do a better job and will not dammage the horn...
_________________
Nicolas Marcotte

52' Olds Recording LA
Wick gold 4X

-=0=-Music is what gives us the beat, but it is also what makes beat our heart -=0=-

_Japle · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2004 4:01 pm Post subject:

Sure, it'll work. But after you get that spot clean, you'll have to do the whole thing.
There's a product called Wenol that's better.
_________________
John
Cape Canaveral

jhaysom · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2004 4:13 pm Post subject:

I've used it successfully on raw brass. It's especially good if there's any depth to the stain; i.e. pitting.
_________________
John Haysom
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
Yamaha 8310ZS trumpet
Yamaha 6310ZS trumpet
Courtois flugel
1941 King Silvertone cornet
1941 King 2B valve trombone
Kanstul 920 piccolo
etc.

gustav · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2004 4:35 pm Post subject:

I would never use Brasso on any insturment. It has properties that are poison. I know that the major horn builders use flitz a german cream. it will also take out light scratching and inhibit rust. Also it will no hurt the metal even gold. Use as directed.

_FELIX C · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2004 5:26 pm Post subject:

Hello for all of you.
Brasso is highly abrasive and extra extrenght. I don recomend that, please use silver pollish or Twinkle brass and cooper pollish, also it comes for silver. Its the best of all the products I have test to clean My trumpets. please check the following
http://store.yahoo.com/jensco/twinbrascopc.html

I recomed that
Thanks and blessings
_________________
God's Peace be with all you!!!!!!!!
Kanstul Chicago 1001
GR65M
Benge 3X+
Benge 3 Flugelhorn
Schilke 14F4
I use my Personal Blend of Valve Oil

bkmdano · Veteran Member Joined: 31 Oct 2002 Posts: 328

I've owned a couple raw brass horns and have had several brass techs advise against Brasso. The abrasives in Brasso are not proper for use on musical instruments. In fact a local band director has ordered his students to use Brasso on their horns which are not raw.
Why I don't know, but the Brasso has caused a two year old Getzen Eterna to have bad valves. I've always used Neverdull for tough spots and Tarni-shield for the easy cleaning.
_________________
Dan
Schilke B7Lgp
Schilke S33HDLg
Lawler TL6r1a
Schilke 1040 flugelhorn

jhaysom · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2004 6:02 pm Post subject:

Hold it now. Remember the original question was about raw brass. So being highly abrasive is not an issue. It's not like you're going to wear through the thickness of the brass. Of course you wouldn't use it on a lacquered or silver plated horn but I can't see any problem using it on raw brass, especially if you have some surface pitting you want to polish out. And of course you wouln't put it inside the valve casings.
_________________
John Haysom
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
Yamaha 8310ZS trumpet
Yamaha 6310ZS trumpet
Courtois flugel
1941 King Silvertone cornet
1941 King 2B valve trombone
Kanstul 920 piccolo
etc.

trumpetmike · Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2004 6:33 pm Post subject:

"yes or no?"

no

bkmdano · Veteran Member Joined: 31 Oct 2002 Posts: 328

John,

"Hold it now" ? I was talking about raw brass! It should not be used on raw brass.
I hope that clears up what I wrote.

jhaysom · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 10:05 am Post subject:

OK bkmdano, I understand what you're saying but not why.

" I've owned a couple raw brass horns and have had several brass techs advise against Brasso. The abrasives in Brasso are not proper for use on musical instruments."

Why are the abrasives "not proper?" What harm can it do?
_________________
John Haysom
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
Yamaha 8310ZS trumpet
Yamaha 6310ZS trumpet
Courtois flugel
1941 King Silvertone cornet
1941 King 2B valve trombone
Kanstul 920 piccolo
etc.

pastbrass · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 12:03 pm Post subject:

Plenty of different ideas about Brasso here! I've used Brasso and Noxon on horns for years and never had a problem with the results. The abrasive content in these products is so slight that you'd have to polish a horn every day for a year or so before you could even begin to measure the amount of brass lost. A brass instrument makes it's way through the hydrochloric acid tank at least eight times in the manufacturing process so brass is pretty resilient! Try Wenol or Semichrome. They're more expensive, but do clean better.
Scott

jamesfrmphilly · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 2:11 pm Post subject:

i went down the street to the store.
they had Brasso and Noxon.
i got the Brasso and tried it.
the horn looks good. real good.
now I'm watching it to see if it's going to fall apart or implode or something.
_________________
1946 Martin Committee, Bach 5V

Eclipse Trumpets · Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 3:02 pm Post subject:

Hi James

I Use a huge amount of brasso a year! We find its the best stuff for our needs.
We use it on rags mixed with different polishing compounds to hand rag-out repair and new horns.

I have personally used it for the past 17 years and have never once encountered any problems whatsoever.

I think people have to remember that brasso is not a great abrasive unless someone or something applies pressure and makes it so! Brasso simply sitting on the surface of brass will not have very much affect at all.

Brasso is very safe to use, and is used by all the best techs i know in the UK and Europe (but we are a little strange over here!)

Anyhow bottom line is, Brasso is great and very safe to use BUT use what you feel does the job best..

Regards

Leigh

[ This Message was edited by: Eclipse Trumpets on 2004-04-16 18:06 ]

orchestraltrpt · Veteran Member Joined: 04 Mar 2003 Posts: 163

Try Flitz- not harmful to the metal like brasso. Non-toxic.

http://www.flitz.com/

Brasso takes away a layer of the metal which is how it works. Flitz doesn't contain abrasives, and doesn't eat away at the metal.

Scott

bdev · Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2004 6:12 pm Post subject:

I agree with Scott. I use Flitz.
_________________
Schilke B1L / GRe65M/e65S
Yamaha B.Shew Flugel / GRe65FD
Olds Super Trumpet (LA 1946) GRe65MX
Reynolds Emperor Trumpet (1961)
Bach Strad 37 Trumpet
Holton 25 Cornet / Bach 6
MDT Morrison Trumpet (wind controller)

Tootsall · Heavyweight Member Joined: 05 May 2002 Posts: 2952

On raw brass (ie... where the lacquer has "left the building") I use Silvo. It's a less abrasive form of Brasso... the can is identical except for the color... Silver and Blue. I also use Silvo to "brighten up" my slide extensions....... keeps 'em nice and smooth but doesn't "grind them down".

musicmork · Heavyweight Member Joined: 13 Mar 2004 Posts: 1530

Hey guys,

I have detailed MANY horns (Lacquered, raw, and silver) and I have found that FLITZ brand polishing cream or a generic version of it called MET-ALL does a really nice job...HOWEVER there WILL be some micro-abrasions and the stuff WILL also slowly remove any lacquer.
It's a lot of elbow grease but can make a horn look so much better.
I think the BEST thing to do afterwards is to have the horn buffed on a wheel and that will take out any micro-abrasions.

_________________
Mark
Trumpets:
'92 Bach Strad (Elkhart)
'56 Olds Special (Fullerton)
'54 Olds Ambassador (Early Fullerton)
Keys/Pianos:Kurzweil PC-88,Yamaha S80,Korg 01Wfd,Hallet & Davis acoustic

[ This Message was edited by: musicmork on 2004-04-27 11:27 ]

Gilligan · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 8:34 pm Post subject:

I found and tested a new polishing cream called MAAS. THis cream is super fine, works great on brass or silver plate and leaves a high tech polimer coat which slows the tarnishing of the horn once it is comlete. The best part is that you can get it at Walmart for under 3 bucks.

I've successfully used used this to remove the old buildup inside the valves and slides and didn't have any problem with loss of tolerances on the slides or valves.
_________________
Gill