Can I put a coat of wipe on poly over some brass?

[Don Morris]

A friend gave me a small decorative wood box because he knew I liked working with wood. The external finish is worn and needs refinishing. The corners have some "brass dovetail" inserts.

There was a clock inside that was non functional. I've made several clocks so I know how to renovate that. Externally there are no significant scratches or surface blemishes. I was thinking of using an oil base wipe-on poly to bring the wood back to life. But I'm concerned about the brass inserts at the corners. Can I just wipe-on over them? When dry the poly hopefully would protect the brass from oxidizing quickly. At least that came to mind. Or is there a better solution to this kind of situation? Any guidance to achieve a good result will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance: Don


IMG_004007.jpg

[roger wiegand]

I do a fair amount of restoration (not of the museum variety where you carefully preserve the dirt), my standard of dealing with brass hardware that is corroded or has been painted over would be to remove it, polish, and then either leave it to oxidize naturally or apply a light coat of lacquer with a lacquer formulated for that purpose (Mohawk sells the one I use in rattle cans) which will slow down, but not stop the oxidation. If the brass just has natural oxidation and looks good I'd leave it alone. I wouldn't use an oil based finish or any finish that has an appreciable film on brass. I really hate the look of old screws and hardware that have been varnished over; it's as if the finisher wasn't paying attention. plus it makes a mess when you have to take mechanical stuff apart to work on it the next time

[Stan Calow]

I use rattle can lacquer on things with inlaid brass. If I want to dye or tone the wood some, I do that before adding the brass.

[Don Morris]

Wow, am I glad I asked before I applied an oil based finish. Will get the rattle can lacquer that's kind to brass. Thanks for the tip-from-the-top information.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Make sure you test the lacquer first so you will know if it will wrinkle the finish that's on the wood.

Nitrocellulose lacquer does not play well with other finishes.

If you remove the brass first - then there isn't a problem. The above is only if you are going to finish the brass in place.

[Jim Becker]

What Rich said is really important!

Remove the brass, clean it up, spray the lacquer and then reinstall the brass.

[Jamie Buxton]

I've put wipe-on varnish on brass, and haven't noticed any ill effects. It is inlay less than 1/8" wide, so maybe that's different.

[Jim Becker]

I will not hurt the brass...but it does alter the color because oil based "clear" finishes have an amber huge to some extent or another. With some brass, I've noticed it can even lean toward a greenish cast on the brase after time for whatever reason.

[Stan Calow]

I just use lacquer as the only finish, after the brass is installed. In this case I sanded the wood (mahogany) and brass together so that I could get that "brushed" look on the brass. The lacquer (Deft I think) has not had any color impact on the brass. inlay.jpg