John:

     Anything you do to brass and copper will strip the metal away. The
     point is to do it very infrequently.

     In my spare moments, I work with the Fire Museum of Maryland, which
     has a large collection of brass and copper on its fire apparatus. My
     husband, the curator, has always preferred NevrDull (which you can buy
     at the hardware store). It is a treated wadding material that doesn't
     require water to apply or remove, and you buff it with a cloth
     (especially important when climbing on a piece of apparatus!) He used
     to use something called Met-All, which is no longer made. However,
     we've found something called Top Brite, which is made in Vermont or
     New Hampshire, which is pretty much the same formula as Met-All. None
     of the conservators we work with have squawked at what we are using,
     but then this is industrial stuff, not fine decorative arts materials.

     You might also try the B&O Railroad Museum (their web page is borail.org),
     although their educator, Matt White periodically responds to Museum-L
     stuff, or something like the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum is Strasburg
     (they have a web site, but I couldn't get the address quickly).


     Melissa Heaver
     Director-Museum Collections
     National Trust for Historic Preservation
     Washington, DC 20036
     202-588-6148
     202-588-6232 (f)
     [log in to unmask]


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Brass and copper
Author:  Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>  at internet
Date:    6/30/98 10:03 AM


I am looking for good guidance in preserving brass and copper on 1800s
steam locomotives.  I am worried because the brass is in excellent
condition and I don't want to damage it.  Current procedure uses an
industrial cleaner, but I wonder if it is stripping the brass away.

Thank you
John Hunter
Curator
Kennesaw Civil War Museum
"Home of the General"

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