What’s the best method to clean up the brass on sets? Or the norm, do most folks bother to keep clean the brass on their pipes? cheers.
Most pipers I know allow the brass to develop a patina.
If you decide you want to polish the brass on your pipes, be careful of the product you use. Avoid anything which contains ammonia.
Thanks, I was just reading up on it and have found some home remedies, Vinegar, flour and salt, paste on and then let sit and wipe off. Does this sound like an ok method? I’m hoping someone has had experience with this, so I don’t do any damage. Thanks.
I wouldn’t let vinegar or salt near my pipes. Vinegar for the smell and salt for the risk it would damage the wood (or brass).
I’ve heard that some makers use Cape Cod Polishing Coths which is a chemical-free way of polishing.
I used to polish my pipes. I used Peek Cream Polish. But I haven’t polished my pipes in 4 years. I prefer to play them.
Cape Cod Polishing Cloths were recommended to me by David Quinn for polishing the nickel-silver metal of my pipes, and they work very well for that. I haven’t tried them on brass.
reccomended to me by my pipemaker was a high end automotive polish called Flitz. Gotta buy the special polishing cloth along with it, so it works properly. Using th eproduct & cloth together, really brings back the original brass, much better & easier than grammoms method.
Gotta order it online IIRC, it was tough to find in an actual store.
For me a sparkly shine isnt essential, but one has to be careful when lots of green, powdery, and/or dark patches show up on the brass. dont hesitate to polish those right off. 
Well, first off, there’s a lot of different kinds of brass. Sometimes they look alike but don’t all react the same to various chemicals. Secondly, it would be an unusual pipemaker who would use exactly the same alloy for all his brass bits and pieces. If he is one of the ones that rolls his own
ferrules and tubes ( which is what the ‘classic’ makers did) then there is a good chance they are the same. If not, then not.
Except for the PITA factor I use crocus cloth and sometimes a white buffing compound with a soft cloth until I get a uniform surface. If I’m consistent in the surface prep, then when I exercise benign neglect over a long period of time I get a uniform patina.
Just my farthing’s worth.
Bob
FLITZ is great stuff! Got a sample of it along with a brass bolstered Buck knife i bought years ago. Only reason i didn’t continue using it was the unavailability in Sweden.
yeh it really works dosent it? 
Mrs CHasR is a lifelong French Hornist, who has just waxed nostalgic about the many alloys of brass. White brass, red brass, etc. etc. etc. No surprise, hornists also attribute supernatural, almost magical quaities to the materials their instruments are constructed of. 
AND they argue incessantly about it on internet forums. 
Kryogenic freezing, mouthpiece dimensions, even how to properly wrap the string around a rotary valve. I’m agog. 
However, she insists that they all polish up fine with whatever substance one chooses. For ex, they will use one polish throughout even though the leadpipe, valve casings, & trim may be of a diferent alloy. Lacquered or unlacquered, dosent matter, as long as its not B****o. Ive learned over the years never to meddle in the affairs of hornists. 
I thought we had slain the ammonia boogie-man a while back. 
Yes, it’s chemically bad for brass. But the extreme industrial circumstances associated with problems don’t really apply to an occasional polish-up. E.g., brass shell casings stored in a constantly ammoniated environment, then subjected to explosive pressure.
I have brass I’ve polished with Simichrome anywhere from 20 years ago to last week, and none of it is pitting, cracking, or disintegrating. The ammonia dissipates quickly, so there’s no long term exposure.
But if you have an effective non-ammonia polish at hand, by all means! I’ve heard good things about the Cape Cod cloths and Sunshine Cloths. A jeweler’s rouge cloth can be effective for light polishing. And is Flitz ammonia-free?
yes.
I’m getting all sorts of weird patina on my brass set of pipes including a chalky green deposit on the bass drone. Is that normal on brass and is brasso the best way to get rid of it?
why do i keep checking this thread…is it some sort of sick OC disorder…?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftk32FKD4Io and why do Mick Taylor era Stones and Natacha Atlas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zzx7ksP0vY seem to be the precise soundtrack for my summer? Why? I ve heard that Natacha Atlas, (Jah Wobble’s Niece? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbFMVoPFkPs haha..a pop song in 13/4 !!! that’ll defninetly make the charts!) is somehow related to Sid Vicious? ( no link for you, Sid 
hahhahaha ) bagpipe connection? mais oui. Natacha uses Tulum and Jah Wobble uses French pipes. However, Brasso is simply not to be used on musical instruments, according to lifelong French Hornist, the buxom Mrs. CHasR. To quote her, “It not only removes lacquer, but also requires far too much elbow grease, and many Hornists feel that its use on an instrument alters its timbre :rolleyes: . Its great for doorknobs and candlesticks though.” [/quote] I;m certain some Hornist on the horn forum (or whatever fetid corner of the internet these people congregate on) with an even greater propensity towards OCD disagrees with her vociferously. (the thread regarding the Seigfreid Horn Call is 7 years old, has over 4000 posts, and 12,000 views, according to Mrs CHasR. Viewable only to paid members of the international french horn society, or whatever they call themselves, I havent the courage to create my account there.) Stop sweating on your bass drone. ( i know cause the same thing happens to my reg keys) Scrub the green stuff off pdq with whatever works, except perhaps the product in mention.
Well , I polished my fullset (offcourse took metalparts(exept the top ferrule on stock) etc apart and protect with masktape where needed ), then use 2 component laquer on metalparts, hard and flexible (spraybottle from carpaint shop).
Made this four years ago, and set looks like new.
Do not,
repeat
DO NOT use Brasso.
It will cause more corrosion, especially in crevices and around springs and rivets, i.e. exactly where you do not want it. It’s nearly as bad as lemon juice, salt, etc.
I second the alternatives already given: Cape Cod Cloths, or for more resistant corrosion, Peek metal polish.
(Thank you, that is all.)
Said CHasR:
I;m certain some Hornist on the horn forum (or whatever fetid corner of the internet these people congregate on) with an even greater propensity towards OCD disagrees with her vociferously.
Actually, this lifelong hornist agrees with her: Brasso is not for musical instruments, period. My horn professor used to like Turtle Wax, and while I don’t think it causes corrosion, on brass it can leave stubborn residue, especially where there’s any texture, engraving, etc. (one of my horns has Turtle Wax residue in its solder-joints from 20 years ago). So, I wouldn’t recommend that either.
If you must polish at all, I think I’d go with Bill H.'s & PJ’s advice to stick with Cape Cod cloths or Peek’s polish.
Cheers,
Mick
ahem. just for giggles, lets line it all up (in order of appearance:)
( I tried to maintain culpability for the forum so Brasso dosent get miffed.)
OK everyone! Key of G:
All together now: Dont use “Brasso” ! 
Ahem. One again. You avoid all chemicals when you use a mechanical buffing action. Hence: Crocus Cloth. If you wish to go even less aggressive (if this is possible) you can chase down some rush. You can’t get any more historic than that.
Bob
Reed rush is indispensable stuff for single-reed players, and thus easy to find even in small music stores, not to mention growing naturally in wetlands. Little chasing is required. (One source online is http://www.wwbw.com/Leblanc-Reed-Rush-540161-i1396618.wwbw)
Never thought of using it on metals! Wouldn’t it be more or less equivalent to, say, 2400-grit sandpaper?
Cheers,
Mick