Good question about the ammonia!!! I don't know if the ammonia is useful for cleaning or not, I do however know that ammonia leaves a streak free shin!!!! because it "evaporates" leaving nothing behind. This is why they use ammonia in many other cleaners, especially glass cleaner!! You don't want streaks on you glass anymore than you want streaks on your brass balls do you!!!!!!
Brasso my asso
- Thread starter .50BMG
- Start date
Good question about the ammonia!!! I don't know if the ammonia is useful for cleaning or not, I do however know that ammonia leaves a streak free shin!!!! because it "evaporates" leaving nothing behind. This is why they use ammonia in many other cleaners, especially glass cleaner!! You don't want streaks on you glass anymore than you want streaks on your brass balls do you!!!!!!
cdnredneck_t3
Regular
Will Air-Soft BB's work as plastic media?
I would think they would have to be similar. They are harder than the plastic tumbling media that bed rock sells and much larger. I don't know if the fact that there harder would be an advantage or disadvantage. I also don't know that they would even fit in the neck of smaller cartridges in order to clean the inside. What caliber are air soft gun's, any idea? If there a smaller caliber than the brass you are trying to clean than they should be able to fit through the neck. I already went and checked them out. Problem is that around 40 dollars for the biggest container you can buy and i figured it would take at least three or four of them to fill my tumbler. Kinda pricey when you can have them sihpped from Edmonton in three days for less than half the cost. Swing by my house when your not busy and check out the stuff i got from Edmonton. One of the guys that i went to school with actually works at the BP plant were these plastic beads are made. I was hoping he can get me some for free.
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When brass tarnishes, the copper in the alloy combines with oxygen to form a black copper oxide that is water insoluble. When copper oxide is reacted with ammonia a rapid reaction may take place to form the blue copper-ammonia complex which is water soluble. The black copper oxide is very difficult to rub off the brass but the copper-ammonia complex is wiped off readily by the polishing media.
Also, if a substance contains an aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide, then it also contains free ammonia as the two are in rapid equilibrium. You can't have one without the other.
While copper would react with ammonia, the rate of reaction in a tumbler with a little Brasso is likely negligible compared to the rate of reaction of the black copper oxide with ammonia. This is what reloaders have been saying in the posts above.
I wounder how long it would take a piece of brass to oxidize to the point were it has actually turned black?? I have a piece of brass that is over 60 years old and though it has defiantly turned a darker and dull color it i don't think it would be black even in another 60 years.
As the oxidization process is happening it is continuously slowing down. The layer of tarnish, or oxidized brass, actually starts to protect the brass underneath from further corrosion due to the fact that it is stopping the oxygen from reaching the brass. The more tarnish that builds up means less oxygen is getting to the brass means less oxidization. This is more formally known as passivization
No matter the extent of the oxidization if the ammonia is braking down the tarnish so it can be more easily be removed than it is actually serving two purposes in the BRASSO. Were did you find your information on the ammonia reacting with the tarnish? I would like to read this!!!!
Also, if a substance contains an aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide, then it also contains free ammonia as the two are in rapid equilibrium. You can't have one without the other.
I could use some clarification on this. are you saying that you cant have H2O without NH3 or you cant have NH4+ without OH- ? You can have NH3 without H2O it is simply a gas rite. But you can not have NH4+ without OH- or without having H2O in order to proved the Hydrogen molecule that has turned the NH3 into NH4+
NH3 + H2O <------> NH4+ + OH−
There will be free ammonia especially when the water is evaporating and the NH3 is gassing off. I don't think the question is weather there is ammonia in BRASSO or not because we already know that there is. I don't think the question is weather ammonia will harm brass or not because we all ready know that it does!!!
The question is will the very small amount of ammonia in the BRASSO (3%max) Ever get a chance to harm the brass!!! And like a stated in conclusion #1 and conclusion #2 I highly doubt it. The water will evaporate and than the ammonia will do the same or in the very unlikely situation that the ammonia remains and there was a 10% concentration it would still only be .005% ammonia in your tumbler
Have you ever smelt household ammonia? If you get a really good smell it will make your eyes water and make it hard to breath!! Thats only 3%-5% concentration!!! Have you ever even been able to smell the ammonia in the BRASSO?? I sure cant, even if your pour it out and let the water evaporate there is such a small amount of ammonia you cant even smell it. Meaning there is much less than 3%
While copper would react with ammonia, the rate of reaction in a tumbler with a little Brasso is likely negligible compared to the rate of reaction of the black copper oxide with ammonia. This is what reloaders have been saying in the posts above.
I think this is what everyone has been saying including myselfe? Have we not all been in agreement that BRASSO is not going to harm your brass???
Regardless of everything that i have just discussed the bottom line is that weather you look at conclusion #1 or #2 BRASSO is not going to harm your brass!! Any one disagree? or have any proof otherwise please let me know??
As the oxidization process is happening it is continuously slowing down. The layer of tarnish, or oxidized brass, actually starts to protect the brass underneath from further corrosion due to the fact that it is stopping the oxygen from reaching the brass. The more tarnish that builds up means less oxygen is getting to the brass means less oxidization. This is more formally known as passivization
No matter the extent of the oxidization if the ammonia is braking down the tarnish so it can be more easily be removed than it is actually serving two purposes in the BRASSO. Were did you find your information on the ammonia reacting with the tarnish? I would like to read this!!!!
Also, if a substance contains an aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide, then it also contains free ammonia as the two are in rapid equilibrium. You can't have one without the other.
I could use some clarification on this. are you saying that you cant have H2O without NH3 or you cant have NH4+ without OH- ? You can have NH3 without H2O it is simply a gas rite. But you can not have NH4+ without OH- or without having H2O in order to proved the Hydrogen molecule that has turned the NH3 into NH4+
NH3 + H2O <------> NH4+ + OH−
There will be free ammonia especially when the water is evaporating and the NH3 is gassing off. I don't think the question is weather there is ammonia in BRASSO or not because we already know that there is. I don't think the question is weather ammonia will harm brass or not because we all ready know that it does!!!
The question is will the very small amount of ammonia in the BRASSO (3%max) Ever get a chance to harm the brass!!! And like a stated in conclusion #1 and conclusion #2 I highly doubt it. The water will evaporate and than the ammonia will do the same or in the very unlikely situation that the ammonia remains and there was a 10% concentration it would still only be .005% ammonia in your tumbler
Have you ever smelt household ammonia? If you get a really good smell it will make your eyes water and make it hard to breath!! Thats only 3%-5% concentration!!! Have you ever even been able to smell the ammonia in the BRASSO?? I sure cant, even if your pour it out and let the water evaporate there is such a small amount of ammonia you cant even smell it. Meaning there is much less than 3%
While copper would react with ammonia, the rate of reaction in a tumbler with a little Brasso is likely negligible compared to the rate of reaction of the black copper oxide with ammonia. This is what reloaders have been saying in the posts above.
I think this is what everyone has been saying including myselfe? Have we not all been in agreement that BRASSO is not going to harm your brass???
Regardless of everything that i have just discussed the bottom line is that weather you look at conclusion #1 or #2 BRASSO is not going to harm your brass!! Any one disagree? or have any proof otherwise please let me know??
When i say "polish" i am meaning "clean inside and out as well as remove fingerprints and shine at the same time" If it makes you feel better I can go back to the very beginning of the thread and look for every time i used the word "polish" and replace it with the word "clean"
Dont know how that would change anything?????? I'm thinking that that's not really the point of the thread is it!!!!!!!!!!
cdnredneck_t3
Regular
50bmg. You should mix up a 10% ammonia solution (worst case scenario) and let a piece of brass sit in it. Take a picture timeline and post it. It would be interesting to see and you have the means to do it out at CF.
My point is ...
Brasso is a polish it's job is to make things shiny... if you are trying to see your reflection in your cases it will do the job..
Why do they need to be shiny?
Cases are clean log before they are polished. If all you need to do is clean the cases there are much better products then brasso for this purpose...
I've heard of using all sorts of things.. Transmission fluid, car wax, varsol and a whole whack of other things...
blacksmithden
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Why do I need to polish my brass until it's shinny ??? Because I like shinny stuff 
Hell. I've walked into a store with the best of intentions of buying something like a 5 cent whistle........walked out an hour later, 500 bucks poorer, but NOW....I have something shinny LOL!!!!!! Eeewwwwww....looook.......s-h-i-n-n-y
Oh....and I don't see any pictures of Brasso damaged brass yet.
Hell. I've walked into a store with the best of intentions of buying something like a 5 cent whistle........walked out an hour later, 500 bucks poorer, but NOW....I have something shinny LOL!!!!!! Eeewwwwww....looook.......s-h-i-n-n-y
Oh....and I don't see any pictures of Brasso damaged brass yet.
- Location
- Hillbilly shack in the boonies
Why do I need to polish my brass until it's shinny ??? Because I like shinny stuff
Hell. I've walked into a store with the best of intentions of buying something like a 5 cent whistle........walked out an hour later, 500 bucks poorer, but NOW....I have something shinny LOL!!!!!! Eeewwwwww....looook.......s-h-i-n-n-y
Ya, I take extra steps to polish the entire cartridge for hunting(not in a tumbler) looks smashing
, and feeds like butter
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What makes these products better for cleaning than BRASSO?? I think we already touched on the car wax leaving a mess in your tumbler. And it does not clean faster than BRASSO!!!!!!!! Transmission fluid??? Your not even supposed to touch your gunpowder with your hands because the oil from your hands will change how the powder burns. How much i don't know but i cant imagine having transmission fluid in your brass being very good. Neither would the oily residue from varsol be good. What kinda of a mess do you have after your finished cleaning your brass with these products besides the fact that it will screw up your gun powder. If you use something to wash the oil residue out of your brass after than now you've turned your cleaning process into two steps and it will take over twice as long as the BRASSO would it not?????
Sounds like way more work to me!! Why not just use the BRASSO and have clean brass that also looks great!!!!
Once again the point of this thread is not to find out what works for other people!!! It is to clear up the misconceptions of using BRASSO!!!!!!
Why do I need to polish my brass until it's shinny ??? Because I like shinny stuff
Hell. I've walked into a store with the best of intentions of buying something like a 5 cent whistle........walked out an hour later, 500 bucks poorer, but NOW....I have something shinny LOL!!!!!! Eeewwwwww....looook.......s-h-i-n-n-y
Oh....and I don't see any pictures of Brasso damaged brass yet.
Ya were still missing any evidence that BRASSO will damage anything are we not????????
Really who dose not like shiny stuff!!! I cant recall the last time i bought a new truck and asked if they could make it less shinny for me! Excuse my Mr. sales man but this new truck is way to shinny, could you please put some car polish, transmission fluid, and varsol on my new leather seats for me!!!!!!!!! well your at it mabe wipe the outside down with some of that transmission fluid too, than i'll go drive er around in the dust for a few hours.
I know I'm going way of topic here now but to get back to the point. BRASSO does not harm your brass, Works much faster than anything else I'v ever used. Leaves no dust or oily residue inside you brass, and is cheap as hell. plus it actually looks like you accomplished something when your done.
Humm, well i think that would actually harm the brass. I don't know if this would help to prove that BRASSO does not harm brass because ammonia does attack brass we already know this fact.
Our argument is not weather ammonia will harm brass because it will, it's weather BRASSO will harm brass or not.
But i could mix up a 10% mix of ammonium hydroxide, throw it in my tumbler with walnut media. Than i would turn the tumbler on for 10 min with the lid off letting the water and ammonia evaporate, put some brass in and leave it sitting in there for a few weaks. i think this would help with proving the fact that the ammonia does not stick around long enough to do any damage!!!! for that matter i could leave the brass in with the media and ammonium hydroxide for two months, but after the water and ammonia quickly leave there will be nothing left but walnut media.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Ok, I'm working up a test.
I'm taking some 38-40 brass, well used.
That's the thinnest brass I have. All W-W headstamp. All have been resized and fireformed to 44-40, and polished with Lyman's red gunk on Walnut.
I plan to immerse each in several solutions.
1. Johnston's Wax Strip {ammonia plus ???)
2. Brasso, liquid
3. Vinegar/water/salt sol'n strong on the vinegar
4. control.
5. Ammonia water sol'n at 10%
6. Pure Ammonia
Each will be in a plastic bag to semi eliminate evaporation of Chemicals.
Lets see what 24hrs will do, that would be a hell of a lot of polishing, considering the concentrations.
I'm taking some 38-40 brass, well used.
That's the thinnest brass I have. All W-W headstamp. All have been resized and fireformed to 44-40, and polished with Lyman's red gunk on Walnut.
I plan to immerse each in several solutions.
1. Johnston's Wax Strip {ammonia plus ???)
2. Brasso, liquid
3. Vinegar/water/salt sol'n strong on the vinegar
4. control.
5. Ammonia water sol'n at 10%
6. Pure Ammonia
Each will be in a plastic bag to semi eliminate evaporation of Chemicals.
Lets see what 24hrs will do, that would be a hell of a lot of polishing, considering the concentrations.
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Polishing by definition removes some brass, so any method be it corn cob, walnut, vinegar, Brasso or extra fine steel wool, will remove brass if the end product goes from dull and/or dirty to shiny. I don't need my brass to be shiny and very rarely use my tumbler - typically a wiping with a cotton cloth is enough. But for those who need it shiny:
Let's get this myth busted and send the Brasso Bogeyman packing!
Let's get this myth busted and send the Brasso Bogeyman packing!
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
OK, I had to go buy some Ammonia, and I got Brand new Brasso, so we wouldn't have any ammonia loss evaporation issues from using an old can under the sink.
Test is up and running.
as of 11:30 AM.
No immediate results to report, except the vinegar/salt/water, that seemed to improve the shine on contact.
Test is up and running.
as of 11:30 AM.
No immediate results to report, except the vinegar/salt/water, that seemed to improve the shine on contact.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
1. Johnston's Wax Strip {ammonia plus ???)
This is an old jug of this stuff under the sink, smells of ammonia has a blue/green tint to it out of the bottle.
2. Brasso, liquid Brand new today, had to break the seal.
3. Vinegar/water/salt sol'n strong on the vinegar
about 60 to 70 % Vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground Pickling salt (no iodine), and water.
4. control.
Put a case in a bag, and tied it.
5. Ammonia water sol'n at 10%
Fresh bottle of Ammonia cleaner, doesn't list the concentration, but the smell would put you out pretty quick. I measured this one. One teaspoon Ammonia, nine of water.
6. Pure Ammonia
Same stuff used in #5, without the water.
In all cases (except control) the respective cases are covered with the liquid completely.
