Originally posted by caswell
1) medium triangles-> fine triangles-> walnut w/rouge-> copper plate-> copy chrome
2) medium triangles-> fine triangles-> copper plate-> walnut w/rouge-> copy chrome
...followed by final buffing. All the tumbler steps are one full day; triangles with an alkaline acetate, and walnut/rouge dry.
I've not yet tried skipping the walnut/rouge step entirely or using walnut without rouge (the next obvious thing to try). The copper from process 2 looks surprisingly good, but it looks even better after a day in the tumbler with walnut/rouge. Process 1 is proving impractical; I just can't get all the rouge off as the surface is still slightly rough pre-copper. Surprisingly hard for brass... is that due to the high nickel content?
Either way, the copper is much better at hiding a slightly satin surface than I expected. I expected it to require much closer to a mirror surface before copper. I'm still learning by doing. At least at this point I've proven that the all-machine prep is practical even if I haven't worked out all the details yet.
Oh, last question: what would you use for final buff? I was thinking of trying untreated walnut shell and the following next:
copper plate-> walnut-> copy chrome -> walnut
I don't care if all the parts spend weeks total in a machine, so long as my hands are free to do the other restoration work while that is happening without close supervision.
Monty
Leave a comment: