[pergammano]

Do any of you good people out there know how to remove the laquer coat that is put on Brass? It is pitted and would like to remove all laquer & polish brass. Thank you!

[KBC]

Have you tried stripper,I worked in a furniture refinishing shop and we stripped old lacquer finishes all the time.
On flat,non porous surfaces we would use wax paper to keep the fumes on the work(as the fumes do almost as much work stripping as the chemical did)

Hope this helps,

Ken

[labman]

For a nontoxic, non volitile solution, try liquid cooking oil. If that doesn't do it, nothing stands up to brake fluid. It is toxic, pets will lap it up.

[pergammano]

In the deep dark recesses of my mind, there is some combination of baking soda & something else?? That you put in water & boil the item. I really would like to avoid c&hemicals. I use a combination of vinegar & salt to reduce pit marks. Thank you "labman & KBC"

[labman]

Baking soda will boil down to lye. Lye will take oil based paint off. It also take skin off.

[ballengerb1]

Definitely do not use sand paper but 0000 steeel wool will help. Most hardware stores sell a kit that includes a remover, polish and clear coats. The remover appears to be pretty much standard paint remover so it requires gloves and ventilation.

[labman]

One note, lacquer is often used to mean different things. One common usage is any clear coat applied to metals. As such it may contain any of the resins used in coatings, and may or may not respond to a given remover.

[ballengerb1]

Another key part to your brass issue is that you can not handle the brass once it is polished and before the coating is applied. Even the slightest finger print will tarn under your new coating so wear gloves. Labman is onto something since not all coatings are really lacquer. I replaced a Schlage door lock set for someone and many of these new sets have a lifetime finish. Plain old lacquer does not last a lifetime so there must be a better coating but I don't know what it is. Think I'll try to research this unless someone knows what they use. I'd love to know what the coating is so I can buy some.

[labman]

Could be a urethane, either a 2 package or moisture cure. Many factory applied, baked finishes outperform anything else. One of the best things you can get is the RexThane moisture cure urethane from Sherwin Williams. Read and follow directions exactly. Do not confuse that material with any product containing tung oil.

[ballengerb1]

I have heard of RexThane but thoughtit was just a floor coating, kind of an industrial wax. I'll have to look into it. Tried to look into the lifetime finishes on locksets but can't seem to get past the vendors selling locks.

[labman]

I have been thinking starting a thread whining about trying to find what you are looking for on the net. Yeah, the RexThane is sold for on concrete floors, but that didn't stop me from using it on my hardwood floor. I have also used similar products on children's toys and a crib.