Removing Chrome From Brass Knobs

[Cagey]

I received my new Scartozi bridge yesterday, this one in brass vs. the last one, which was aluminum. The aluminum looked really nice as delivered - all polished up and ready to go. But, silly me, I had it anodized gold so as to match the rest of the hardware. It didn't turn out very well. Quite pitiful, in fact...

Gold anodizied aluminum, no polish​

So, you live and learn. I'm going to have to remove that finish and re-polish it to make it useful.

Throw some more money at the problem, and here's where we get to...

Polished brass - now we're talkin'!​

But, as gold as that looks, it doesn't match real gold...

Not quite right​

So, all that is to show why I need to get some brass hardware to match the new bridge, which is turning out to be much harder than I thought it would be. It seems a lot of stuff is made out of brass, but it's almost always finished somehow, usually plated in either chrome or gold, or painted black.

Knowing that I can't be the first person to want to do this, I called on my friend Google to see if somebody had posted directions/advice on how it's done. Of course, they had. And surprisingly enough, it turned out from a number of sources that it's remarkably easy. All you need is some acetone or bleach. WTF? That doesn't make any sense. I've never heard of either one of those chemicals being antagonistic toward metal. But, what do I know? I'm no chemist or metallurgist.

According to the directions, an acetone bath for about two hours would teach a piece of chrome plated brass a lesson. Ok, I've got lotsa acetone and a Pyrex measuring cup dedicated to such abuse, so let's have at it. I grabbed a couple chrome plated brass Tele knobs, then just to save time I grabbed a black one as well, thinking if the magic didn't work on chrome, surely it would work on paint.

2 hours later, no joy. Knobs looked as good as when they went in. 3 hours, 4 hours, 5 hours... dammit! So, I said to hell with it. I left them in until this afternoon, which was about 24 hours. Dumped the acetone, wiped down the knobs, and here there are...

...Laughing at me. Fargin' bastages!​

All I accomplished was to get them really clean. Which actually doesn't surprise me, but there were a number of references and procedures that all said the same thing, so what is this? Some kind of conspiracy to piss me off? I don't know. Doesn't matter. All I know at this point is that acetone won't remove chrome or black paint from brass knobs.

So, tonight, I'm going to try the oven cleaner trick. Stay tuned.

 

[Cagey]

Actually, in the interest of playing "Mythbuster", I'm going to invest a couple hours in the bleach trick to see if that works before I try the oven cleaner. I seriously doubt it'll work, but it's a $.10 cent experiment, so we'll splurge. Can't hurt, and we might learn something.

 

[anorakDan]

My own quick search divulged muriatic acid (hydrochloric) will remove chrome plating from brass, and if copper is used to bond the nickle/chrome, it will remove that as well. HCL will attack the brass, so you gotta be mindful of the process.

Luckily, muriatic acid is available at your local hardware store and it's not expensive.

Otherwise, you might try tumbling the parts in a rock tumbler with some polishing grit?

I really doubt the bleach will work, and the oven cleaner might work, after a fashion. Most likely it'll do fine on the smooth parts, but the diamond checkering on the knobs could cause you some grief.

 

[Cagey]

Unsurprisingly, the bleach did nothing. The knobs are as good as new. So, myth busted. Neither acetone nor bleach will strip chrome or paint from brass. Not only will it not strip it, it won't even make a dent. It's as if the knobs have been exposed to nothing more than kittens and sunshine. They were new to start with, and still look new now. I suspect clear spring water and a bad attitude would do more damage.

So... on to the oven cleaner? I think I'm going to pass. The only oven cleaner I have here is the tree-hugger variety, which I suspect you could spray in your eyes and not suffer from it. AnorexicDan is right - muriatic acid is indicated. I don't keep that in stock, so I'll have to make a supply run tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

 

[keeper006]

It's as if the knobs have been exposed to nothing more than kittens and sunshine... I suspect clear spring water and a bad attitude would do more damage....The only oven cleaner I have here is the tree-hugger variety, which I suspect you could spray in your eyes and not suffer from it.

Stay tuned.

Ah Cagey, entertaining as always!  :icon_biggrin:

 

[anorakDan]

...AnorexicDan is right ...

While I appreciate your taking my humble advice, that's a little mean isn't it?

 

[Updown]

arh that looks nice.

Easy solution Cagey  :sign13:

Change your Pup rings & knobs to Black  :dontknow:
Then put black saddles in the bridge.
Keep the Gold tuners, there far enough away from the bridge to see the colour diff.

Gee ..... I'd hate to see you cleaning chrome wheel trims  :laughing7:

I agree with Shadowhand ..... very entertaining thou, as always.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Cagey]

...AnorexicDan is right ...

While I appreciate your taking my humble advice, that's a little mean isn't it?

I'm sorry - that was certainly not my intention at all. I just couldn't remember exactly what the prefix was so I took a shot. I missed <grin>

 

[Cagey]

arh that looks nice.

Easy solution Cagey  :sign13:

Change your Pup rings & knobs to Black  :dontknow:
Then put black saddles in the bridge.
Keep the Gold tuners, there far enough away from the bridge to see the colour diff.

Gee ..... I'd hate to see you cleaning chrome wheel trims  :laughing7:

I agree with Shadowhand ..... very entertaining thou, as always.  :icon_thumright:

No, even if I was going to use that body, black would be too dark for it. I'd more likely change to nickel plated parts and clean up the aluminum Scartozi to go with that.

As it turns out, that body just doesn't like me, so I bought another one for this project. You may have seen it in the "Gas Alert" thread. It's a hollow carved-top mahogany over mahogany Tele body with natural masked binding and a gloss black finish. Thing's light as a feather at  2.11 pounds. Must be magic Mahogany. Anyway, that with the Afra/Afra neck equipped with gold 6100 frets with gold Schaller mini-lockers says I have finish with gold hardware. I think there's a law. I'm gonna cheat a little and use brass, though. Doug's gonna make me some brass pickup mounting rings and maybe some brass knobs, and he's already made the neck plate, so I'll be good to go.

Incidentally, anybody wanna buy a new metallic black cherry carved top Tele body? I think I paid $390 for it, and it has all gold hardware (but no bridge or pickups) and my OCD-level wiring in it. Reasonable offers can make it your own. It's a nice part - solid Alder, and Warmoth finished - but I just can't get next to it.

 

[ezas]

Kittens and sunshine . . . almost made me spit up my coffee!

 

[Cagey]

In the ongoing saga of producing brass knobs, I have new results.

I said I wasn't going to try oven cleaner, as the muriatic acid trick sounded more likely to work. But, the local hardware didn't have muriatic acid.

It was funny. I asked one of the 17 year old "store associates" where the muriatic acid was, and she looked at me unblinkingly like a deer caught in headlights for about 20 seconds before she found her voice and blurted out "That stuff's poisonous!" Well, duh! So's drain cleaner if you sprinkle it on your cereal. Gimme a break. I'm not asking for a dietary supplement. Kudos for even knowing what it was, though.

They did have stale Doritos, melted 3 Musketeers bars, ant traps and no-name soft drinks for sale. It seems they've suffered from the MegaStore infestation, and have been reduced to selling high-margin short-dated crap instead of hardware. But, they did have old cans of oven cleaner (???), the good stuff that contains sodium hydroxide (lye) in it. Yeah, yeah. Poisonous. Flesh-eating, even. I won't tell if you don't.

So, I laid out several thicknesses of newspaper, and hosed down my 3 victims with the evil oven cleaner. Waited the recommended 10 minutes, and went after them with an old toothbrush under a running stream of water. Not a dent. What the hell are these things made of?

Now I'm pissed. Laid the things out and hosed 'em down again. This time, I had a couple beers, couple cigarettes, took a nap, watched some cartoons, answered some email, etc. Not sure how long they were under the foam. But, this is what I got for my patience...

Yuck, he said.​

It definitely took the black paint off the one, only to reveal that it was originally a chromed part. It did start to eat the chrome off, too. Unfortunately, it also had a pretty voracious appetite for the brass. At the rate things were happening, it was going to take about a week to get all the chrome off, after which the knobs would probably be pretty much dissolved as well.

So, to hell with 'em.

3 perfectly good Tele knobs: $13.50
1 can wicked oven cleaner: $3.19
Heavy duty rubber gloves: $2.79
Knowing what doesn't work: Priceless.

The more you know.

So, Dangerous Doug is going to make me some brass pickup rings and knobs. Should've started there in the first place.

 

[anorakDan]

Lots of peer approval for your efforts in the name of Science! Now we all know.

Media blasting was another thought that came to me. They use baking soda now instead of sand, and it's supposed to be a lot nicer to the metal. But, you'd need to find a shop who does that and would be willing to take on your small project.

Maybe someone will want those distressed parts for a "road-worn' project?

 

[Cagey]

They don't look "road worn", though. They just look wrecked. Even if they were repainted, they wouldn't look good.

What's weird is the chrome that wasn't affected still looks fine. It's shiny and smooth, just like it's supposed to be. You'd think it would at least look a bit etched. Where the chemical managed to find a way under the plating, it really ate the hell out of the brass. It's deeply pitted. Another anomaly is the threads for the set screws. You'd think they'd be an easy target, but they weren't affected at all. Nor was the underside of the knobs, or the hole for the pot shaft, which doesn't appear to be as heavily plated.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I shared this thread with Mrs. Turbo Deluxe.  She googled "remove chrome", and said, "brake fluid."

 

[Updown]

So, Dangerous Doug is going to make me some brass pickup rings and knobs.
Should've started there in the first place.
​

:doh:

Nice experiment thou  :icon_thumright:

Did you try the 'Microwave'  :icon_jokercolor:
​

 

[Cagey]

I shared this thread with Mrs. Turbo Deluxe.  She googled "remove chrome", and said, "brake fluid."

Hmm.. interesting. I never saw any mention of that in any of the solutions I found. I know it'll do mean things to paint, but I hadn't heard about chrome.

 

[Cagey]

Did you try the 'Microwave'  :icon_jokercolor:

No, and you're not going to trick me into it, either. Already learned my lesson with the cat <grin>

 

[keeper006]

I shared this thread with Mrs. Turbo Deluxe.  She googled "remove chrome", and said, "brake fluid."

I can vouch for that as a good possibility. I cut a brake line doing an engine swap and didn't realize fluid got on the quarter panel, it ate right through the finish and layers of paint right down to the bare metal.

 

[DangerousR6]

I got the first pup ring done, will move on to the single coil tomorrow... :icon_biggrin:

And yes for those of you not in the know, it's suppose to be a bit off...

 

[Cagey]

Ain't that sweet? The one side is fatter to cover up a bit of exposed hole left over from the Tele bridge pickup routing the body was originally cut for. Once I get it polished up, I'm gonna take it to a jeweler and have something pithy engraved on it. Don't know what yet.