Aluminium & Brass

[Vic Perrin]

I have been given some Aluminium and Brass Rod which I intend to make some pens with.

What do you recommend for protecting the high polish finish that you can get on them

Vic

 

[Grump]

Nothing, just repolish it every now and then.

 

[wm460]

What Brian said.

 

[Woody]

Snap as Brian said in fact I am all set to make one tomorrow

 

[Jim]

Vic, what is the thickness of the rods you have?

 

[Penpal]

Les Elm works extensively in brass follow up his postings heaps of techniques finishes. Brass lends itself to powder coating. Or go Army and polish your way.

Peter.

 

[woodyfxr]

I would also go with the above as i have polished many metals. If you were to lacquer it and the lacquer broke down later it would look terrible.
Solvo Autosol will bring the alloy up to like a soft chrome, once there the occasional clean with more solvo and a soft cloth will keep it like that. On the initial polish make the cloth go black then clean off with a soft cloth.

With brass solvo can also be used but then finish with Brasso. Both will be a very dirty process lol.

 

[Vic Perrin]

Vic, what is the thickness of the rods you have?

Jim the Aluminium is 20mm the brass is 15 mm

vic

 

[Wedge]

That always elusive lasting finish.

There are at least eleventeen dozen formulas for making brass. The metals produced range from simple common brass (?) to very exotic bronzes, gunmetals and even German Silver. It is unfortunate that they are all known as brass. Some are very easy to machine while others are similar to turning marine grade stainless steel. However, they all have one problem, the finish doesn't last plus they make your skin reek with a terrible odor. The only finish that can be applied to brass to maintain its brilliance is a process called "Bright Dipping". This appears to be similar to chrome plating. I don't know anything else about it. Even bright dipping will tarnish over the years.
Aluminium will polish to a fantastic bright surface but it will also fade as it oxidizes. Once you have a silver finish, it will need continual work to keep it looking good. I stay clear of aluminium where I need a brilliant long lasting surface and use a stainless steel that will produce the desired finish. Not all stainless steels will polish well so you need to choose carefully. This may require trying out a few samples to achieve the results you require.

Joe

 

[Woody]

Hi Joe the finish on my aluminium pen only needs a light polish about every two or three years so that to me is no problem brass pens I found needed polishing a bit more often stainless steel great but it is to hard to turn on a wood lathe especially if you only have woodturning tools which is the case with most of us I have turned S/S pens before but that was when I had a metalwork lathe

 

[Wedge]

Hi Woody
I can certainly understand your problem with turning SS without a metal lathe. My lathe will turn any metal or wood that I can fit in it. The biggest problem I have had is polishing these two metals when in the presence of wood. The wood has to be ever so completely protected from the cleaner/polish or it is ruined. There have been things that I was unable to separate and these were a real pain to work on. The worst "aluminium" that I ever worked with was magnesium. This stuff will ignite very easily when it gets hot and will burn under water.

Joe

 

[Woody]

Yes I agree Joe regarding the presence of wood and metal mix I have mixed them but only with a thin metal inlay which work out fine sorry I loaded the wrong pen in my first attachment the second pen is Africam blackwood and brass