What You Should Know About Brass, Copper and Nickel Refinishing
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The professionals at ProShine Metal Refinishers have over 250 combined years of
metal refinishing experience. We handle your items as if they were our own.
We will do the best job possible restoring each and every piece you send in.
Please understand that some parts, due to their composition, will not be "perfect"
or "like brand new" when you receive them back. Aged metal often has tiny pits caused
by any of a number of reasons, and these pits cannot always be completely removed
without damaging the integrity of the pieces. Of course, we will do our best to remove
as many as we can.
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OUR PROCESSES:
Brass Polishing
Copper Polishing
Nickel Plating
Lacquering
Automotive Parts & Bathroom Fixtures
Brass Polishing
| Finishes - ProShine can process your brass pieces in the following finishes: |
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Polished Bright - Highly reflective mirror-like shine |
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Polished Antique - Oxidized in the recessed areas and shiny on the raised areas |
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Brushed - Softer satin-like appearance |
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Brushed Antique - Satin finish with oxidized recessed areas |
Typically, there are three types of brass jobs that are requested:
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Sheet brass polishing is the most straightforward. ProShine can polish and lacquer
almost any sheet brass piece ranging from home hardware to brass railing.
Even if the pieces are aged or coated with paint, ProShine can bring them back to life and
protect them for years to come.
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Solid cast brass brass is a little more challenging. ProShine can polish this as well.
But due to the nature of cast brass, spotting occurs when pieces are repolished.
Because of this, we prefer not to process cast brass pieces unless the customer clearly
understands that spotting is not only a possibility…it is a probability.
You can tell if a piece is cast brass by looking at the bottom or inside.
If there is a rough grainy surface, the piece is cast brass.
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The final type of job requested is one for processing a piece that has been previously brass plated.
Since these pieces are practically impossible to strip, prepare and replate,
ProShine prefers not to accept them for processing.
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| But how can you tell which kind of piece you have?
There are a couple of simple ways. |
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Magnet Test - First, if a piece looks like brass but a magnet sticks to it, then it is made of
steel under the brass and should not be refinished as the final piece will still look somewhat
dull and lifeless.
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Scratch Test - Second, take a small pen knife and scratch the piece with a good deep scratch in a
hidden area (usually the bottom). If the scratched area is yellow all the way into the base metal,
then your piece is solid brass. But if the scratched area is white or gray, the piece is brass
plated over die cast or white metal and should not be refinished because the final appearance of
the piece will have spotting and blistering issues.
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So why would we tell you NOT to get some pieces refinished? Well, we would rather turn away
orders than do them and have you be unhappy with them. It′s just how we do business.
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Copper Polishing
| Finishes - ProShine can process your copper pieces in the following finishes: |
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Polished Bright - Highly reflective mirror-like shine |
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Polished Antique - Oxidized in the recessed areas and shiny on the raised areas |
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Brushed - Softer satin-like appearance |
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Brushed Antique - Satin finish with oxidized recessed areas |
Solid copper pieces from teakettles to old-fashioned boilers can be beautifully brought
back to life by ProShine. Prices for these are the same as for polishing brass.
Nickel Plating
ProShine can also create contemporary home hardware by nickel plating solid brass or copper knobs,
handles and hinges. Many folks send in inexpensive brass or copper door or window hardware
and let ProShine transform them into handsome contemporary parts just by nickel plating them.
Nickel plated pieces can be done in Polished Bright or Brushed finishes (sorry…no antique).
To figure the prices for nickel plating, just multiply the brass polishing prices by 1.5.
Lacquering
ProShine uses a top-quality protective clear-coat lacquer on many of the brass and copper parts we process.
(No lacquer on nickel plated pieces…as nickel doesn′t tarnish.)
Our rule-of-thumb is if a piece will be used for decorative purposes only, it should be lacquered
to keep it from tarnishing. (Examples: Door hinges, sconces and chandeliers)
Lacquering is included in these prices. IMPORTANT: Cast brass pieces should never be lacquered
as if they spot out, the spots cannot be removed due to the lacquer coating. If not lacquered,
spots CAN be polished out most of the time.
However, if the piece is to be used for holding food or if it will be handled repeatedly,
it should not be lacquered as the constant use will wear through the lacquer unevenly and
cause the piece to discolor unevenly and not be able to be repolished without stripping first.
(Examples: Teakettles, candlesticks and churchware) In these cases, we do not lacquer the pieces and
you will need to polish them occasionally to maintain the shine and remove tarnish.
ProShine also has a special outdoor lacquer we can apply to pieces that will be out in the elements.
There is no additional cost for this lacquer. Just note that it is required when you complete your order form.
IMPORTANT: ProShine lacquer does protect refinished metal pieces. However, it does not protect them
forever and will eventually wear off.
Automotive Parts & Bathroom Fixtures
Occasionally we receive questions about the restoration of automotive parts and
bathroom fixtures. Unfortunately, these are almost impossible to refinish satisfactorily.
However, we CAN do beautiful work polishing solid brass automotive parts. For prices for these, please
contact us and email a picture and complete description.
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