A few words of caution about the use of chromic acid. Remember it's actually removing the outside layer of brass material so it will remove brass plating almost instantly (test pieces with magnet before dipping). Although it works wonders on stampings it can be a big problem on cast brass pieces like leg ferrules, pedals, and the lid catch pieces on old Steinways. Back when I still had someone else doing my hardware he used chromic acid (platers refer to it as bright dip, BTW) on a M&H set that had cast pedals and ferrules. The chromic acid lodged in the pits of the cast brass and leached back out into the new lacquer about a week after finishing. He refinished those pieces 3 times (without the acid of course) using special rinses and even trying to bake the acid out in an oven. We never were able to completely remove the acid and the piano was delivered with little brown splotches on the pedals and ferrules (although greatly faded after the third time around). Richard Anderson > For those of you that do a lot of brass refinishing, this is definitely > worth checking out. > > Order 16 oz of Chromic Acid for $9. (#C31016OZ) > and 4 oz of Sodium Bisulfate for $4.50 (#S2354OZ) > >
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC