mushrooms

[Graham and Jo]

I use salt and vinegar rubbed on with a kitchen sponge. Together they form Hydrochloric acid which works a treat. Think about it next time you have chips.

 

Cheers Graham

Edited March 20, 2012 by Graham and Jo

[bizzard]

Fine sand is also good.

[MtB]

I'm told by an old boatman it is extremely bad form to polish your brassware. You are polishing all the history off.

 

Unless yer bote is too young to have any, that is

[Doorman]

I'm told by an old boatman it is extremely bad form to polish your brassware. You are polishing all the history off.

 

Unless yer bote is too young to have any, that is

 

Was his name Rodney by any chance...?

[blackrose]

Spirits of salts

 

http://www.dockerills.co.uk/household-and-domestic/miscellaneous/spirits-of-salts-kilrock.html

 

It takes thick black oxidation straight off brass, ready to polish.

Edited March 20, 2012 by blackrose

[OldGoat]

Where.....?

 

 

Well blow me down I put the link in here all proper and got the blue underlined colour - so I thought it was OK.

I'll do a preview this time....

 

Heavens to murgatroyd the editor's dropped it. It's a PDF - is that the problem?

Here you go in plain text:- www.conservationphysics.org/ppubs/incra.pdf

 

Apologies for any inconvenience caused..........

 

'Salright now.

Edited March 20, 2012 by OldGoat

[lock hopper]

thanks guys for all the tips,will give it a go at the weekend Bib

[Grace and Favour]

Spirits of salts

 

http://www.dockerill...ts-kilrock.html

 

It takes thick black oxidation straight off brass, ready to polish.

 

AKA Hydrochloric acid

 

Handle it with a degree of respect

[saltysplash]

Cillit Bang to get off the tarnish, then brasso for the shine then halfords clear lacquer for that year long shine

[Doorman]

Well blow me down I put the link in here all proper and got the blue underlined colour - so I thought it was OK.

I'll do a preview this time....

 

Heavens to murgatroyd the editor's dropped it. It's a PDF - is that the problem?

Here you go in plain text:- www.conservationphysics.org/ppubs/incra.pdf

 

Apologies for any inconvenience caused..........

 

'Salright now.

 

Cheers OldGoat.

 

From the abstraction I have discovered two main things. Firstly, I shall avoid mooring our boat in close proximity to the Interstate with its high volume of traffic and secondly, I shall avoid airline flight paths at all costs!

 

I believe that Rylard are humble enough to accept that a five year protection life from their lacquer is realistic enough. That's five years free from squatting on our roof polishing those darn mushrooms.

 

Just finished applying the stuff to a couple of brass fairleads and brackets to secure our fenders. Application with the aerosol couldn't be easier and the finish is very professional. Hopefully, I can put the Brasso away for a while now.

 

Mike

Edited March 21, 2012 by Doorman

[Doorman]

ive used brasso to try and clean my mushrroms,we havent had our boat long and it was need of tlc,but i just dont seem to be able to get them back to a good colour as they still look dull,any suggestions

Hi,

here is one of our original tarnished mushrooms that I've polished on too many occasions only for them to return to this shoddy looking condition after a couple of weeks, especially after rainfall!

 

 

 

And here is the replacement mushroom that was one of five bought on Ebay for £19.95 each. Before fitting them, they were all given three coats of Rylard brass lacquer. Hopefully, if it does what it says on the the tin, the Brasso can go into storage for a few years!

 

Note also, that I've replaced the original M5 fixing screws with stainless steel countersunk socket head alternatives. This is to deter the occasional smart Alec who comes along with a screwdriver to relieve you of your mushrooms!

 

Next up, the dreaded Houdini hatch.

 

Mike

[floatingtraders]

ive used brasso to try and clean my mushrroms,we havent had our boat long and it was need of tlc,but i just dont seem to be able to get them back to a good colour as they still look dull,any suggestions

[ditchcrawler]

 

And here is the replacement mushroom that was one of five bought on Ebay for £19.95 each. Before fitting them, they were all given three coats of Rylard brass lacquer. Hopefully, if it does what it says on the the tin, the Brasso can go into storage for a few years!

 

Mike

I find it lasts quite well until you get a scratch so you need to watch out that they don't get scuffed. I did the porthole frames? 12 years ago and they still don't look to bad, no peeling. Maybe I should clean the roof back and do that, because that peeled after 2 years but it did get snowed on.

[floatingtraders]

hello i have been reading your request for polishing brass,and there isnt any real solution to the problem you need to take them off and have them polished with a lathe and oven baked lacquered which is a hard finish.you can use the lots of different products but they wont work. a good place to have them done is rapidcoatings.co.uk in birmingham but.. that means you need to post them.

all the best dave

[Ex- Member]

Hi there

 

When Brass has been left for a long period it oxidises causing it to darken, trying to remove this oxidisation with brasso will be extremely hard work and futile. This build up of oxidation needs to be removed with something more abrasive such as cutting compound, then finished off with Brasso. Or chemically.

 

blackrose posted this product earlier in this thread.

http://www.dockerill...ts-kilrock.html

 

I haven't used it myself, but if blackrose say's it removes the oxidisation, then I would trust his word, I might give it a go myself although I quite like the oxidised look especially after several years exposure.

 

hello i have been reading your request for polishing brass,and there isnt any real solution to the problem you need to take them off and have them polished with a lathe and oven baked lacquered which is a hard finish.you can use the lots of different products but they wont work. a good place to have them done is rapidcoatings.co.uk in birmingham but.. that means you need to post them.

all the best dave

 

I'm sorry but that's nonsense there are many products that will clean Brass in situ, fine cutting compounds will take off oxidisation quite quickly then finish with Brasso or other fine polish. In the past me and Lynn have brought up 3 year old oxidised brass portholes x 13 and 6 mushroom vents in less than a day.

 

Removing Brass fittings for this task is expensive and overall would be more time consuming.

 

I've just posted a link to a product that another member recommended that removes the oxidisation prior to polishing. Simples!

 

There are plenty of easy apply coatings available.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2012 by Julynian

[lock hopper]

Hi,

here is one of our original tarnished mushrooms that I've polished on too many occasions only for them to return to this shoddy looking condition after a couple of weeks, especially after rainfall!

 

 

 

And here is the replacement mushroom that was one of five bought on Ebay for £19.95 each. Before fitting them, they were all given three coats of Rylard brass lacquer. Hopefully, if it does what it says on the the tin, the Brasso can go into storage for a few years!

 

Note also, that I've replaced the original M5 fixing screws with stainless steel countersunk socket head alternatives. This is to deter the occasional smart Alec who comes along with a screwdriver to relieve you of your mushrooms!

 

Next up, the dreaded Houdini hatch.

 

Mike

thats what mine looked like at the beginning,they have come up a bit,but looks like im going to have to invest in new ones,im never going to get them as good as new

[Doorman]

thats what mine looked like at the beginning,they have come up a bit,but looks like im going to have to invest in new ones,im never going to get them as good as new

 

By using some of the suggested cleaning agents that have been mentioned on this thread, I'm sure that you'll be able to restore your mushrooms to their original condition and then by coating them in lacquer, maintain their appearance for a couple of years.

 

We only changed ours because the originals were of poor quality.

 

Mike

[jonathanA]

Note also, that I've replaced the original M5 fixing screws with stainless steel countersunk socket head alternatives. This is to deter the occasional smart Alec who comes along with a screwdriver to relieve you of your mushrooms!

 

Next up, the dreaded Houdini hatch.

 

Mike

 

Hi

 

I like the idea of replacing the screws with stainless steel socket heads. I'm thinking that the easiest way of cleaning my vents is to take them off (i've already done the domes) but need to do the upstand as well.

 

what if anything did you use to seal them to the roof ? - I'm a bit cautious about disturbing the current seal..

 

jon

[Doorman]

Hi

 

I like the idea of replacing the screws with stainless steel socket heads. I'm thinking that the easiest way of cleaning my vents is to take them off (i've already done the domes) but need to do the upstand as well.

 

what if anything did you use to seal them to the roof ? - I'm a bit cautious about disturbing the current seal..

 

jon

 

Hi,

 

After scraping off the low quality sealer that the boatbuilder had used, I cleaned the area with methylated spirits before applying a seal of Sikaflex to the flange of the upstand. Be careful to mask around the area of the roof prior to replacing the upstand as Sikaflex is messy stuff.

 

Once the four scews are tightened down, you'll see the mastic spread out from beyond the flange. Remove the excess with a cloth dipped in white spirit, then by using a painting aid which resembles a little rounded rubber on the end of a very fine paint brush, you can achieve a very professional finish that will also seal the roof and the mushroom from the elements. Sikaflex is not cheap, but it creates an excellent seal and bond for any deck fittings on your boat.

 

Mike

[jonathanA]

Hi,

 

After scraping off the low quality sealer that the boatbuilder had used, I cleaned the area with methylated spirits before applying a seal of Sikaflex to the flange of the upstand. Be careful to mask around the area of the roof prior to replacing the upstand as Sikaflex is messy stuff.

 

Once the four scews are tightened down, you'll see the mastic spread out from beyond the flange. Remove the excess with a cloth dipped in white spirit, then by using a painting aid which resembles a little rounded rubber on the end of a very fine paint brush, you can achieve a very professional finish that will also seal the roof and the mushroom from the elements. Sikaflex is not cheap, but it creates an excellent seal and bond for any deck fittings on your boat.

 

Mike

 

Thanks Mike,

 

I suspect the hardest job will be getting the old screws undone, thanks for the comprehensive instructions something for me to do on the long summer evenings....

 

regards

 

Jon

[Albion]

Thanks Mike,

 

I suspect the hardest job will be getting the old screws undone, thanks for the comprehensive instructions something for me to do on the long summer evenings....

 

regards

 

Jon

 

There is one other additional thing to watch out for. Depending on what sealant was used originally and how good the preparation was on the original paint job, as you lever up the mushrooms you might pull the paint off in small sheets around the upstand. Might be worth carefully scoring round the upstand (very close to the rim) with a sharp knife so that you pre-empt any such problems. Otherwise it'll be a localised repaint job also.

Roger

[Doorman]

There is one other additional thing to watch out for. Depending on what sealant was used originally and how good the preparation was on the original paint job, as you lever up the mushrooms you might pull the paint off in small sheets around the upstand. Might be worth carefully scoring round the upstand (very close to the rim) with a sharp knife so that you pre-empt any such problems. Otherwise it'll be a localised repaint job also.

Roger

 

That's a really good point and well worth considering.

 

One method, apart from what Roger suggested, is to use a very fine piece of wire (similar to a guitar string) that's secured to a piece of wood at each end - I used two toggles from my wife's duffle coat - then once you've removed the fixing screws, gently pull the wire under the flange of the upstand towards you. This will act like a cheese cutter and break the bond between the seal and the roof. Then, once the upstand has been removed, carefully scrape away any residual sealer from the paintwork on the roof. Take care when doing this not to pull on the wire too heavily, otherwise when the wire breaks through the other side, you might just find yourself falling off the roof and into the cut!

 

I've attached two photo's of the 'painting aid' that I find really useful for cleaning off any excess of sealer. These can be bought form any hobby type store, or specialist art work outlet. If you always clean them after use they should last for many years.

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2012 by Doorman

[Ex- Member]

Personally I find fixing Brass much easier using Butyl a non setting putty easy to use and apply.

 

 

Also now Neoprene seals are ideal for mushroom vents, just buy some flat 3 or 4mm Neoprene sheet big enough cut out a gasket to the correct shape and fix Neoprene will give an excellent seal with no mess at all and give maximum flexibility and nice finish to the edge. If you ever need to remova a mushroom vent, there's no sticky mess to clear up' it will simply lift away and can be refitted using the same seal.

[ditchy]

Julynian do you know if the neoprene requires any other adhesive to work?

I assume its cut shape, degrese surfaces, place on and apply prssure.

Not forgetting to screw dowm at the end.

Edited April 30, 2014 by ditchy

[mango]

Chlorinated solvents such as dichloromethane and chloroform make it easy to remove lacquer that is in poor condition, allowing the brass to be polished. These solvents are hazardous and should be used outdoors and with gloves. Dichloromethane was the active component of many paint strippers but as far as I know, it is no longer used.

 

Can anyone suggest an alternative way of removing lacquer from brass?

Edited April 30, 2014 by mango