Damaged Brass buttplate HELP!!

[BigShep85]

Cleaning out the room and I move two black powder rifles sitting in the corner.
Don't use them, they are heirlooms of my father and my wifes that are going to the kids.
Anyway, pick them up and they are stuck to the carpet!!:banghead::banghead:
Must have been something in the carpet because they are corroded.

Any help and advice is GREATLY appreciated.
Can I polish this back out of the brass? If so what is the best stuff to try?
I will have to get my dremmel out tomorrow.
&:&:$-(-@:";"@;$:$.?.?'di
I am so mad right now. Stupid stupid stupid.
I just never thought carpet would do that.
Lesson learned. But need help

 

[BigShep85]

Only corrosion was where there was contact with carpet

 

[rcmodel]

Your best bet is take them off and hand sand them down past the corrosion with 240 black Wet or Dry emery paper.
Then re-buff to get those scratches out with buffing compound on a grinder with a cloth buffing wheel.

http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/product_info.php?cPath=225_176_511&products_id=893

They can be made to look new again with a little sweat equity.

rc

 

[Hardtarget]

That's ugly. sorry to say. Try this first. Remove the butt plates and use an old towel with white vinegar. Just rub it a bit. try a very small area. Don't go at it with steel wool just yet. If the vinegar seems to be making headway try a tooth brush.

Keep moving up in aggressive action. You'll know when you've hit the right level.

If you go to compound and dremel tool you'll be forced to polish the whole plate.

This is a tough project...I hope you find the answer.

Mark

 

[50 Shooter]

The carpet had to get wet or some other moisture got to it for that to happen.

Anyway, get some good polish and a good pad for your dremel and start working. You might remove it from the rifle to make it easier to clean. That and to make sure the wood wasn't affected either, I would imagine it was.

On another note, if you have a leather holster and belt its a good idea to remove the gun and bullets. The chemicals used to tan the leather will corrode brass and other metals.

 

[Walkalong]

Do you have cats? Ammonia would do that.

 

[BigShep85]

I have some flitz, think tht will work?
I do NOT own cats

 

[LAGS]

Ammonia and Vinigar will work on brass.
But Ammonia will eat the Zinc out of your brass and make it brittle if left on there too long. ( Never use ammonia to polish Brass cases for reloading )
Vinigar will tend to darken the brass untill it is final polished. ( Turn it green a bit )
But what is wrong with good old Brasso Brass Polish ?
When you get the plate all polished up, spray it with Clear Lacquer to seal out moisture and air to prevent further corrosion.

 

[BigShep85]

Thank you so much lags
Where can you pick up brasso?

 

[kitsapshooter]

Mothers mag polish

 

[BBBBill]

Been years since I bought any Brasso, but have seen it a Lowes, Walmart, etc.

 

[Kp321]

You mentioned Fitz, that will work. Leave the Dremel in the drawer. It will give you all sorts of ripples.

 

[LAGS]

I got some Brasso ar the local grocery store.
Flitz and Mothers are good polishes, and will work.
But Brasso is Made for Brass.
And I agree with not using a Dremmel tool.
Just polish it by hand, and put a little effort into it.
Too many people are just Tool Happy.
By hand, you have control, and you can be proud of your work.

 

[WestKentucky]

Easy now, you have other brass bits to be concerned with too. Before you go mirror polishing butt plates look at your other brass bits. You will want everything to match. Don't put in sweat equity to build more sweat equity. I have no recommendation on how/what to do, but go at it well informed rather than jumping in and creating more work.

 

[LAGS]

Once you polish out the buttplate to remove the corrosion or staining, then if it does not match the other parts, just wipe it down with Vinigar and let it go back to an even Patina.
That way you can control the color, and it will be even but not bright Mirror finished.
Or just leave it the mirrored finish, and let it turn on it's own in time, and it will.

 

[Jim K]

Once you have the corrosion removed, use a spray shellac or polyurethane on the brass (inside and out) to keep it corrosion free in the future.

Jim

 

[4v50 Gary]

I'd protect the brass with Renaissance Wax. One light coat, buff it and you're done.

 

[BigShep85]

I am having trouble getting the corrosion off.
May have to sand some

 

[rcmodel]

That's what I said in post #3.

The photo I saw was showing corrosion way too deep to polish off with Brasso by hand, or with any other metal polish.

Go back and read Post #3, Again.

That's what you need to do to bring it back.

Rc

 

[BigShep85]

Update!

After a brass brush and some flitz this is my result.
I have more work to do and there is pitting.
It will be unremoveabble but I am ok with that I guess. Outward expression of inward ignorance I guess
Needs some more polishing but it seems like all is not lost

 

[toiville2feathers]

You say they are heirlooms. I can't really tell from the picture but what kind are they and how old. Real old BP guns as a rule did not have a butt plate of that style. If they are a manufacture of a rifle built in the 20 century, replacement parts might be available if its that big of a deal.

 

[BigShep85]

They were manufactured in the 20th century. Nothing special but I would like my kids to have them.
I will chek into replacement parts for sure. I hadnt even considered that yet. I cant remember the makers though. I will check tonight

 

[BCRider]

Those are deep enough that you need to remove some metal around the pitting to bring the whole surface down a little. You've gone as far as you can with simply polishing using a cleaner/polish. It's time to remove metal.

The trick is to maintain the shape while removing metal evenly from the WHOLE REAR FACE so you maintain the original shape of the plate. If you only work the areas with the pitting you'll end up with a deformed look to the plate. Far better to thin the whole plate evenly so the shape is maintained. Yes the plate will probably be a few thou thinner and the LOP reduced by a few thou. But you'll never feel that much change. On the other hand your eyes and those of others will easily see the distortion created by only working down the one area.

The work involved at this point would be to start with a file to work the whole back surface down by about a 1/64 or so evenly to bring the whole surface down and get away from the pitting.

I say "file" as this is a tool which is less likely to get abused and run away with excessive metal removal in one spot. But someone with a DELICATE touch and a big belt sander could do the job using the roller end. But it needs to be someone that has some skill and experience. It would be preciously easy to ruin the plates if the person applying the pressure isn't careful.

From there you'd go with hand held emery or silicon dioxide sanding cloth or paper to remove the scratching. The grit numbers being raised until you get the sort of finish the plates had originally.

And needless to say, no more carpet. Or at least use a layer of insulation with a thin easily dried mat on the insulation. Something like a 1.5" layer of pink or blue Styrofoam with a mat on it will avoid any condensation that occurs.

Mind you if you're getting condensation in the carpet or moisture wicking up through the concrete and into the carpet then plopping a pad of syrofoam onto the carpet will just make the carpet hold more moisture. Better would be a low platform of plywood that raises up off the floor/carpet by about 3 or 4 inches so you still have a good airflow around the floor carpet. Then a thin non porous rubber mat on the platform will provide grip enough to avoid the butt plates skidding around but won't promote any moisture issues. The "anti fatigue" mats sold for standing around work well for this. They are grippy enough to avoid the guns slipping around but are not pourous so you won't get condensation issues.

I'd be willing to bet that the carpet was in the basement. Or it's near an area where you take off wet boots and such?

 

[Ron James]

I love it, a number of valid suggestions on how to remove the corrosion , but not a word about " was the carpet damaged? ". Go down to Auto Zone ( or what ever ) and get some 400 grade wet or dry metal finishing sanding paper, you won't even need polish unless you just want to do a little extra work. By the way, was the carpet ruined?

 

[krs]

I'd think about leaving it as you show it in the last photo. Nice patina and some well cared for corrosion staining will give it an authenticity that'll never come out with parts that look like new.

Some unnatural aging and you can tell your grandkids that YOUR great granpappy kilt a bar withen this rifle in 1748.

they'll either believe you or think you're nuts. Either way you'll gain their respect.