Painting bare brass

[picker77]

I want to airbrush some old stamped brass camera parts using matte Duracoat. I like this stuff and have successfully done many steel and aluminum parts with it, but never brass. I'm told it's difficult to get a good long term bond on brass with any kind of paint because of lead leaching. So what's the preferred method of preparation for a long term solid bond? Is there a primer specifically recommended for bare brass? I considered an etching primer but am concerned it might will damage engraved lettering and fine detail. The finish will not be subjected to a lot of abuse, but I certainly don't want it to flake or peel on its own. Thanks for any advice.

[woodjames]

Can't point you to a paint/primer, but hopefully I can help you with a decision. Brass is simply an alloy of copper and zinc, you wouldn't have any problems with lead leaching out. Almost all brass hardware for doors and such very often has a clear finish on it. With the durability it provides, it's most likely a powder coat, and if you're thinking of going that route as there is a multitude of colors available, your best bet would be to direct questions on that part of the forum.
With the zinc content of the metal, I don't think that an etching primer would be a good candidate.

[woodjames]

Oops, I was thinking about brass plate has no lead in it. I did find that most brass solid has a very small percentage of lead in it. I came across a few solutions for removing the lead from the surface, but they all involve acids. Visit The Finishing Industry -- Anodizing, Plating, Powder Coating, and search there forum for lead leaching, it'll go into more detail. In fact that website may be a little better suited to answering your question, you may want to post it there also.

Originally Posted by picker77

I want to airbrush some old stamped brass camera parts using matte Duracoat. I like this stuff and have successfully done many steel and aluminum parts with it, but never brass. I'm told it's difficult to get a good long term bond on brass with any kind of paint because of lead leaching. So what's the preferred method of preparation for a long term solid bond? Is there a primer specifically recommended for bare brass? I considered an etching primer but am concerned it might will damage engraved lettering and fine detail. The finish will not be subjected to a lot of abuse, but I certainly don't want it to flake or peel on its own. Thanks for any advice.

[picker77]

Thank you, James. I'll check it out. In the meantime, I'm going to grab the bull by the horns and try it over cleaned and thoroughly degreased bare brass with no primer. I can easily chemically strip the parts and try another method later if it doesn't work well. Several people have mentioned etching primers, but the custom silver plating/restoration shop I use didn't think that was a good idea because of the engraved lettering that is on these particular parts. They were concerned that acid-etching primers might damage the sharp edges of the engraving, which would not be good.

If this doesn't fly, I'm probably going to have them flash the parts with either copper, nickel, or zinc, and consider that the "primer". Surely that would work, although it would be an extra expense.