How to clean brass?

[metal]

Hello all,

recently I recieved some some tracks (45 mm, LGB). The sleepers are more or less ok, however the brass of the rail itself turned black.
In an attemt to remove the oxidation, I put the rail in a mixture of vinagar and hot water. The result can be seen at the photo: the black color is removed, but now my rail looks like it is made of copper.
Any suggestions on how to clean (remove the black oxidation) these tracks? (yes, I prefer the easy way ;D)

Cheers, Mike

 

[terrywerm]

You might want to try a product called Brasso. It's meant to be a polish, but it might do the cleaning you need as well.

After taking a closer look at your photo, it looks like the rails were purposely blackened chemically, which I suspect is a process that oxidizes the zinc on the surface of the brass. If that is the case, the vinegar (a mild acid) removes the zinc oxide from the surface, leaving a surface that is primarily copper, which is more resistant to mild acids. If you scratch the surface, you will probably find that it is yellow underneith. In short, Brasso and some steel wool might be just the ticket.

 

[dy]

Another possibility is to use the 'fine' gray-color 'Scotch-Bright' pads. They're sore of like an easier-to-use version of steel wool.

Brasso and a soft cloth might work well also. I've used it for cleaning brass machine parts.

Vinegar and water does work, but if the discoloration is an issue, use it to remove the bulk of the corrosion, then use one of the previous methods to clean off the 'coppered' areas.

Hope this helps. dy.

 

[steamer]

You might want to try "Never-dull" and a clean rag.

Dave

 

[Blogwitch]

Metal,

Your rails should be bright brass all over, but for electrical conductivity, just the tops will be OK. I ran mine for many years outdoors and the rails do get 'black' on the sides, to me it actually looks better and more authentic in a garden environment.

LGB do in fact produce a cleaning kit that fits under one of your heavier wagons. It has to be a heavy wagon, otherwise the spring tension will try to lift a lightweight one off it's wheels.

All it is is a pair of spring loaded plungers (one to each track top) that presses a small (1" long x 1/2" wide approx) Scotchbrite (grey in colour) type pad down onto the track.

They clean the rails as you drive around, and I am sure they could easily be replicated with a bit of telescoping plastic tubing and plasticard, with a couple of light springs for tension.

So really, if LGB do it, then Scotchbrite seems to be the answer to your question.