I recently picked up a small burl chest with metal trim. The metal was originally brass plated but most of that has worm off. In some spots if you remove the remaining brass finish, with either oven cleaner or steel wool, it leaves a shiny chrome-like finish. But in other areas that appear to have been exposed longer, it has a dull steel appearance. This photo shows all three, with the partial brass finish at the top, chrome-like in the middle and dull steel at the bottom.
Ideally, I'd like to get all the metal to a polished steel appearance, or at least a somewhat even, dull steel. Is there a good chemical way to do this? Or just go at it with an angle grinder? Thanks.
@mark737, I'm having trouble seeing what's what in your photo. How much 'trim' area are you talking about? There are acids that'll etch brass, but none you really want to work with. I'd stick with mechanical removal. Besides, you're gonna need to 'work through the grits' (grades of abrasives) no matter what if a mirror polish is the goal. An angle grinder might be overkill. A random-orbit sander with accessory buffing pad for later stages is what I'd probably use.
P.S. As you may already know, metalworking is a special brand of messy.
@tktoo2. Thanks for the reply. I’ve never done steel polishing before. I guess I’ll watch some YouTube videos. Here’s a pic of the chest. Metal trim around the top and base. Fortunately it was easy to disassemble so I can work on the metal separately from the wood sections. Probably not worth the time but I’m a sucker for burl.
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