Bronze again

[Troy Scott]

Folks,

I've been spending some more time working on the bronze. What a lot of work! Anyway, I've been reading about the "Titan Tough" finish that is optional on the ABI cabin lights. I think it's titanium nitride? Supposedly it's also the finish on some high-end bathroom plumbing fixtures. Now I wonder if this finish would work on bronze. If it would, I wonder how long it would last outside. Anybody?

[Ron Churgin]

Titanium nitride coating is applied in a vacuum chamber at around 900 degrees F...I don't think the bronze will hold up to that kind of heat.

[Ron M.]

Troy,
I have to admit I like the look of polished bronze also. It's just way too labor intensive to maintain. Actually the oxcidized surface is protective so I've accepted the greenish blush and think it looks rather salty on the exterior.
Inside I kept them polished, ( I had removed, beadblasted, and rebed all of them ) by applying 4 coats of Helmsmen polyurethane, (spray). The finish has held up very well over 5 years.
I don't know of any thing you can put on the exterior bronze that will hold up for long.
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Ecigarettes

[Troy Scott]

Ron,

Like you, I doubt that any protective coating would hold up very well on the exterior bronze. I have friends who insist that automotive clear coat would last a very long time. Hmmmm..., I just don't know. But, I like the look so much that I keep trying to find a solution. I understand about the protective layer that naturally develops on bronze, and that it does have a certain salty appeal. However, the look of the brand new polished boat show Robinhood 36 is burned into my brain......

Bead blasting? I have been wondering about that. So how did it do? Did it come out nice and shiny? Or did you have to polish it after the blasting? Does the blasting damage the metal at all? Tell me all about it!

[Ron M.]

Troy,
My boat had a lot of issues, one was leaking ports. I removed all of them and replaced much of the interior teak ply as it had de-laminated.
The ports had old caulk and polyester goo stuck to their flanges. I decided to clean them by bead blasting. The beads are glass spheres that come in different grits, I used 6#,they are re-useable . They do not damage the surface, but kind of peen away rust, paint and other crap. I have used beads to clean tins from antique Hoosier cabinets and oak ice boxes with good results. Beads do a through job and are much less aggressive then other blast media like silica or aluminum oxide. I cut poster board to cover the glass as beads will etch it.
The bronze of my ports was not shiny smooth to begin with, a bit rough from casting, but came out perfectly clean and new looking.
BTW, a refrigerator carton with some windows cut into it makes a great, cheap, temporary blast booth.
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ONE VAPORIZER REVIEWS

[Troy Scott]

Ron M,

I wonder if, with the unpolished ports, we might not really be able to notice if the bead media slightly damaged the surface. My CD36 is originally equipped with finely polished bronze ports, some of which had leaked and all of which are corroded. I'm not talking about the nice looking weathered green...., I'm referring to yucky, grainy verdigris that comes off on whatever touches it. It's had to go. Actually I got rid of most of the offensive stuff by scrubbing the individual parts and running them through the dishwasher. I've had some success polishing, but it's spotty and extremely time consuming. I can imagine that the polishing work would be far more gratifying if the parts were clean already. Do you think the media would work well to clean up these polished ports? The glass is fine, though I would prefer tinted. How should I protect it?

Thought: I'm guessing that bead blasting would prepare the bronze surface for clearcoat protection better than perhaps any other process. If I were to go that route, I'd probably go straight from blasting to coating, with no polishing in between. (I'm prepared to be PERSONALLY blasted for even thinking this way.) Thoughts?

Final thought, at least for this one message: I bought one used Spartan bronze opening port from a guy who upgraded his Morris. It is the rough, unpolished version. I had thought at one time that I would smooth it up and polish it to match the ones I already have, then install it in the main bulkhead towards the cockpit as in the new Robinhood 36. Am I going to be able to do this in a reasonable amount of time? I mean..., after I catch on to this polishing thing, that is? I'm obviously a novice at this. And I'd rather be sailing. In fact, if someone asked to buy this one port from me right now, I'd sell it.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: This refit is, I hope, my last "big project". I would really rather just sail and maintain a "together" boat. All my life I've taken on these ridiculously big (for one guy) projects. They always balloon WAY past my original plan. You'd think I would have learned already. Well, finally I get it. I'll get this boat in the water and hopefully keep her forever. Of course protecting her from the world will be an ONGOING "big project".

[Ron M.]

I'm a member of that club also at times Troy.
I WOULD NOT bead blast anything polished.
If you blast, polish and clearcoat be sure to wash down well with solvent and clean rags a couple of times before coating. Let us know how it works out.
I cut thin mat board to fit inside the frames to protect the glass.
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Vaporizer instructions

[Mark Yashinsky]

One idea is to often, take a little time, and repolish them by hand. Look how, and how often the brass would be polished, before the Captain would come around for inspection, on the older ships.
Another idea, is look into powder coating. Cast bronze is porous, so if you went this route, the place would have to make sure the piece is absolutely clean, after the polishing, but before the powder is applied.

[oldragbaggers]

Paul Luke gave us this hint and it works like magic. Clean your brass/bronze with the thick Lysol toilet bowl cleaner before you polish. Squirt it on full strength, let it sit for a little bit and then scrub it around with a soft brush. It will take most of the gunk off, leaving you a lot less polishing work to do.
Becky

[Troy Scott]

Becky wrote:
Paul Luke gave us this hint and it works like magic. Clean your brass/bronze with the thick Lysol toilet bowl cleaner before you polish. Squirt it on full strength, let it sit for a little bit and then scrub it around with a soft brush. It will take most of the gunk off, leaving you a lot less polishing work to do.
Becky

Becky,
I saw your post on this a while back. I tried it, with next to no success. I also tried Naval Jelly and a bunch of other stuff. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. This stuff in STUBBORN.

[Larry DeMers]

Paul Luke gave us this hint and it works like magic. Clean your brass/bronze with the thick Lysol toilet bowl cleaner before you polish. Squirt it on full strength, let it sit for a little bit and then scrub it around with a soft brush. It will take most of the gunk off, leaving you a lot less polishing work to do.
Becky

Be careful here!! We tried the toilet bowl cleaner trick perhaps 10 years ago, and it Did Not Work worth a nickel. It does give an immediately clean and shiny bronze finish, but within a few minutes, this finish became a blue-black (almost like it had been heated with a torch) color, and was impossible to remove. We left them alone for a few years, and they finally came back to the nice green finish of before. This is/was in fresh water.
One thing is certain. A strong chemical like toilet bowl cleaner must be deactivated after it is used, or it will continue to work. With a sand-cast, but not polished port, there are many small pock marks that will hold onto the cleaner, even after deactivating it.

My many, many hours of monkeying around with trying to make a brightly finished port were a total failure..don't waste your time with this method.

Cheers,

Larry
s/v DeLaMer
CD30c Lake Superior

[Oswego John]

A bolt out of the blue.

Hey Larry, it's so good to hear from you again. Welcome back, guy.

O J