Brass Tacks

I have been asked how I restore things. I take lots of photos as I take the item apart, label and bag all the parts and document it all.

I make sure the item is 100% brass is not magnetic before I proceed. I have several large and extra large stainless steel pans to boil the brass in a pool of vinegar until the lacquer falls off. Indoors this makes it hard to breathe so if you can do outside do it. Also, old lacquer gets all over everything when it boils off.

This is thick old lacquer that is peeling and shedding. However I used a torch to burn off this hard lacquer.

All the pieces ready for polish with 0000 steel wool ,the alcohol to remove grease then lacquer by Mohawk and put back together again.

I use these buffers on a drill for extra shine.

 

Tabernacle Before

This looks fine but up close all the lacquer was crazed, flaking off and crackled. It shed all over the counter it was stored in. It needed a full removal of the old lacquer and a polish of the solid brass under. This lacquer made the brass look like gold. The restoration bought out the copper in the brass, more natural color.

Found the iron weight on the top of all places.

Cracked lacquer close up.

Inside was shedding as well.

Hot vinegar bath took some off and the rest of the hard stuff was torched off.

 

Ent cutting day

My husband fully outfitted in safety gear for chainsaw work. The chaps jam up the chainsaw if it hits his leg. This happened once and this is his second pair. So worth the cost. 

These storms threw several trees down along our fences. He took them down and now we have to re string the electric fences for the horses. It is an on going problem but part of living in the woods. This lets us move our horses into pastures for grazing once the grass is up. 

 

Hilda the brave

So after our Osa passed we needed a second dog to keep our farm predator free. Zilla is 11 and can't keep up patrols. I have been searching for a year and was on the fence about getting another dog. We wanted a German Shepherd but no one had a reasonable priced one or female. Then on facebook a free puppy was found abandoned and needed a new home. She was on the street for a month before rescue. Her rescuers were overburden with male dogs and they could not keep her. She was scared and underweight. We drove 6 hours to pick up this free GS pup.

She was wild, never on a leash and afraid. After a week I have her trained to walk on a leash and work with me on farm chores. She is ok with our alpha female. Once she is older she will be spayed. She is about 4 months of age and smaller than Zilla. 

We decided on Hilda and I am her person.

 

Restoration of a tabernacle

This was a tough one to restore. The before is on my phone but basically all the original 50 year old lacquer had crumbled and alligatored the brass tabernacle. I took this apart and boiled the parts in vinegar but then winter arrived and I put the whole thing away as my studio is unheated. Then I was asked about it and asked to get it done. So all the pieces were cleared of lacquer except the door and the main body. I had to use a torch to get that hard lacquer off. I then polished and lacquered the brass. Every single bolt, nut and screw was saved and restored, polished and reassembled. It turned out quite stunning. In my haste to get it done I forgot to take a photo after. I will post soon after Easter. It is being used again after sitting dormant for decades. The new priest for our parish prefers the old style of tabernacle instead of the mod one currently used.