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When I bought the material (silicon bronze) to fabricate the chainplates I brought them up to a polish you could have used for a mirror. It took hours! As I was slaving away at a polishing wheel in the boat yard, an older man watched me struggle and just shook his head. I asked him what he was thinking and he said you're wasting your time! Of course I was furious and demanded to know what boat he had ever worked on, yadda, yadda, etc. Well, he told me (built a 38 foot traditional Lyle Hess design in wood) and I was properly humbled. His advice - let it go! He said he couldn't wait for all the bronze to go green on his boat! I have since accepted his advice and pass it along to you.
What we're seeing here is bronze's reaction to a corrosive environment - seawater. The color ("greenies", as you like to call it) is called a "patina". If you accept the inherent beauty of a bronze patina set against the beauty of your Flicka hull you will never want to break out the Brasso again. It is a matter of perception. If you perceive green or brown bronze as wonderful to look at - it will become so. Just think of what the Statue of Liberty would look like if she was all polished out with hundreds of gallons of Brasso. Unthinkable! And so should your desire to polish bronze....unthinkable.
(Note: The patina on bronze is a "self-healing" protective coating which prevents the bronze from corroding further - the WebCaptain)
Jack
REPLY #4
Whoever suggested using ketchup to polish tarnished bronze: Well Done! I experimented on an old brass lamp that has been sitting on our porch for who knows how long. I slathered on the ketchup and let sit for 30 minutes and "presto" shiny new brass. I've since done the bronze galley pump on our Flicka with equal success.
Well done.
Rod Bruckdorfer
©: copyright 2000 Rod Bruckdorfer
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