Expert: Kenton Scott - 3/4/2008

Question
Kenton:
This is a general question regarding brass, which you might have an insight on.
My electrical outlets are covered with solid brass plates. They are very tarnished, and I would like to polish them, but need advice as to how to go about it.
I presume that I will need a polishing wheel of some kind that might attach to my grinding wheel.
Is that correct. If so, what type of wheel, where could I buy one, and what process needs to be followed to achieve a bright finish on the solid brass electrical covers.
Hope you can help.
Nicholas M.

Answer
Yuk, not exactly a musical instrument question, but what the heck!

The first issue is whether they have lacquer on them.  If they do, you will need to use an aircraft grade metal stripper to get it off.  Then, you might want to try either Braso or Blue Magic to see if that might brighten them up enough.  

If you need to go to buffing, then you need a soft cloth buffing wheel, and a buffing compound.  The brown compound does a general buffing, and a red or white compound will do the finish job.  It should be applied to separate buffing wheels.