Filing and polishing brass

[GaryJ]

I purchased a rough cast trigger guard at Dixons and started to file it to smooth and shape it the way it should be.  As I started - and never having done anything like this before - I quickly realized it is more work than it looks.  So my question is, is there a tutorial or some place I can look to get a better idea of how this is done properly?  And, what tools are necessary?  I have some fine files I purchased at Dixons that work quite well, it's the operator who needs the instruction.  Again, I have more respect for what I have seen others do and I am humbled.

[Ed Wenger]

Hey Gary...

You hit the nail on the head, it is more work than it looks...  No doubt in my mind, an apprentice would have been kept very busy back in the day.

There's a hundred ways to 'skin a cat' but basically it comes down to filing, filing, then more filing.  I don't know of any tutorials off hand but the various books often mentioned here are a good start.  Various sized files work good at getting rid of brass, the small, fine ones you mentioned are good for the details.  After filing, use various grits of emory cloth (on a piece of wood or similar), then steel wool.  Some guys burnish as well.  If you have a picture of the style trigger guard you're working on, that helps.  Hope that helps some and good luck.

[P.W.Berkuta]

The files you use for brass should be reserved for filing brass only if you want them to last for some time and do their best job. Clean the files often with a "file card" ( flat wooded stick with nylon bristles on one side and wire bristles on the other). You can use a piece of chalk and rub it on the file's teeth to help prevent the file from "loading up". After you remove the imperfections with the file, use wet/dry sanding paper backed up with a piece of wood - add a bit of water and use a lot of elbow grease until it looks good  .

[Herb]

For me, a 6" double cut file, flat on one side and rounded on the other, works better than a singlecut smooth file.  Also, scraping works very well.  I use the back edge of a hackaw blade.  This can be filed to be sharper.  I don't polish brass very much, and a friend sands his with only 120 grit sandpaper for a final finish.

[J. Talbert]

To make the process as efficient as possible use a progression of files and abrasives, from course to fine.  With each progression, be sure to remove all tool marks from the previous step, before moving to a finer grit.  In some areas you can change the direction of your strokes from step to step to help expose any left over marks from the previous step.

[Randy Hedden]

Filing, or you could start with a scraper and scrape the TG down to almost finish size and then use the fine files for cleanup.

Randy Hedden

www.harddogrifles.com

[lew wetzel]

gary,did you get your casting from reaves goehring.i find his brass is the nicest to work and polishes up real nice...

[Dphariss]

I purchased a rough cast trigger guard at Dixons and started to file it to smooth and shape it the way it should be.  As I started - and never having done anything like this before - I quickly realized it is more work than it looks.  So my question is, is there a tutorial or some place I can look to get a better idea of how this is done properly?  And, what tools are necessary?  I have some fine files I purchased at Dixons that work quite well, it's the operator who needs the instruction.  Again, I have more respect for what I have seen others do and I am humbled.

Just file till it looks good then polish. I use everything from pretty large coarse files to needle files depending on the part etc. for Polish I start with 180 or 220 grit wet or dry double stick taped to a piece of 1/4 plexiglas or a t-shaped aluminum extrusion a friend gave me. I use pieces of heater hose and various sizes of fuel line wrapped with paper to do contours. If not stiff enough find a piece that will fit inside a larger one for a harder backing. But often softer is better. Do the flat areas last (grit by grit) where they meet rounded areas to keep the edges better.
I go to 400-600 on brass then steel wool and chrome polish.
The old timers had ways of polishing. Abrasives on leather straps etc. So an unpolished surface is not necessary to be historically correct.
As you pointed out brass is tough to file and some of the stuff out there is bronze and even worse.
If you must clean a file try scraping it out with the edge of a brass scrap. Wire brush file "cleaners"  can dull files.
Soapstone  for marking steel obtained from a welding supply will help keep the file clean. Brownell's sells it but they use a different name and it costs more.

Dan

[BobT]

I find it works best for me to start on the detail areas first when I'm "fresh" and then go to the larger areas. When I get tired of filing I just put it aside for a while and do something else. It takes me longer to do but I don't get in too big of a hurry and mess something up either.  I follow this same routine while working on stocks, it sure saves me a lot of trouble!

[Roger Fisher]

Jeez did I say I like steel mounts

[northmn]

I do have a large buffing wheel that helps and use a belt sander to get rid of the worst stuff, like casting gates.  Mostly I file a lot, as they say keep a set just for brass, and then use sand paper.  There is a good reason investment cast stuff got popular in recent years. 

DP

[Acer Saccharum]

You know how hard it is to hold a trigger guard to file out the inside of the bow?

Start your process with the inside curvature first.

Here's how I hold the guard: I take a chunk of brass, 1/4 thick, x 2 long x 2 tall, file one edge of this to roughly fit the curve of the bow, and soft solder it onto the bow. I can now file away on the inside curve, with no fear of the guard slipping or popping out of the vise. To remove, simply heat, and the block falls off. There will be solder on the outside of the bow, but since you still haven't filed that yet, the solder will come right off in a few strokes of the file.

This same block is useful to hold the finials without bending or crushing them. Solder to the topside of the finial first, so you can file the bottom of the finial. Then melt off and re-attach to the bottom side if you don't have a lug to hold it by.

[David Rase]

To keep the edges sharp and the flats flat I have been stoning my brass mounts for quite some time now.  I use medium and fine grit stones with lots of oil.  I have not had any problems with the stones loading up.  I think Gesswin sells some stones specifically for non ferris metal but I have not used them.  Just like files, keep a few stones separate for brass work.
DMR   

[GaryJ]

Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions.  Last night I tried out most of them to practice and see how they work.  I liked them all and they made sense - especially stoning the flat areas in the front where I was trying to create a beveled look.  I wondered how the heck I was going to make straight (or straighter) lines where it was beveled.

One last question - I was looking for some brass for my side plate and I forgot to look for some while I was at Dixons.  Can anyone point me in the direction of the kind of store that might sell brass plates in approximately 3/32 thickness.  I've stopped at all the local hardware culprits like Ace, Lowes and Home Depot with no luck.  I suppose there are specialty type places for that but I'm not familiar with them.  Any suggestions will be appreciated.  The weekends almost here, Gary.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

look here  http://www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(wl54o0mcv5ixjc55tj3xht2s))/Search.aspx?PageSize=25&Page=2&Search=sheet%20brass&Type=3

I have had good luck with their sheet stock

[David Rase]

Suzy at Muzzleloader Builders Supply sells .090" sheet brass.
DMR

[Dphariss]

Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions.  Last night I tried out most of them to practice and see how they work.  I liked them all and they made sense - especially stoning the flat areas in the front where I was trying to create a beveled look.  I wondered how the heck I was going to make straight (or straighter) lines where it was beveled.

One last question - I was looking for some brass for my side plate and I forgot to look for some while I was at Dixons.  Can anyone point me in the direction of the kind of store that might sell brass plates in approximately 3/32 thickness.  I've stopped at all the local hardware culprits like Ace, Lowes and Home Depot with no luck.  I suppose there are specialty type places for that but I'm not familiar with them.  Any suggestions will be appreciated.  The weekends almost here, Gary.

Try mscdirect.com if you want 12"x12" or larger. Search alloy 260.
Alloy 260 brass 12x12 .093 thick is about $55. MSC # 32006876

Alloy 260 Brass Material: Brass - Alloy 260 Thickness: 0.1250 In. Length: 12 Width: 12 MSC # 32006934
$72
They have various thicknesses from thin enough to make wire inlay from (.012") to very thick.
They also have alloy 353 engravers brass.

Alloy 353 Engravers Brass Sheets Material: Brass - Alloy 353 Thickness: 0.0900 In. Length: 12 Width: 12
 MSC # 32005936
But this is $76
I generally get my order in 3 days.

If you want smaller sheets go to one of the ML  suppliers.

Dan

[J.D.]

Dan,
I am unaware of engravers brass. What is the difference between 260 brass and engravers brass?
Thanks.
J.D.

[Dphariss]

Dan,
I am unaware of engravers brass. What is the difference between 260 brass and engravers brass?
Thanks.
J.D.

Catalog states its leaded, 1.8%, free machining brass, easier to engrave as well. The alloy 260 is just common yellow brass.
There is a 360 alloy too.

Dan

[don getz]

I hate to do this, but if you are going to turn out a barn gun in 5 days, you must have ways to speed things up.   To clean up the inside of the bow, and inside curves  at the rear of the guard, I use  my Dremel tool with about a 1/2" drum sander, this will speed up getting the worst of the rough stuff out of the bow.  I then revert to using a 8" single cut
file for a lot of it, then shilfting to finer and finer emery paper.  If you don't want a real bright finish on the brass, I will
once again go to my scotch brite.  This really smooths things out and gives it kind of a satin finish.  You can also polish
it from this stage...then go to the ammonia fumes after it's inlet........Don

[northmn]

I forgot to mention using the dremmel also, along with the buffer and belt sander.  This part of building is not the most fun, shortcuts help.

DP

[Acer Saccharum]

After I get my brass filed, I go the a scraper, a cabinet scraper for big areas, small homemade ones for tighter spots. Then I burnish with a hardened steel burnisher.

The result is shiny, but slightly faceted. Sometimes little ridges show up in the surface. I will knock back some of the shine with pumice on a rag.

This does not give a showroom finish, but a nice believable sheen.

( I do not believe in buffers nor dremels nor Santa Claus, Don )

[Dphariss]

After I get my brass filed, I go the a scraper, a cabinet scraper for big areas, small homemade ones for tighter spots. Then I burnish with a hardened steel burnisher.

The result is shiny, but slightly faceted. Sometimes little ridges show up in the surface. I will knock back some of the shine with pumice on a rag.

This does not give a showroom finish, but a nice believable sheen.

( I do not believe in buffers nor dremels nor Santa Claus, Don )

I have tried the Dremel approach but I am not sure its faster than filing. Less likely to need repair work when using a file.

Dan

[northwoodsdave]

Gary J Said

I purchased a rough cast trigger guard at Dixons and started to file it to smooth and shape it the way it should be.  As I started - and never having done anything like this before - I quickly realized it is more work than it looks.

Yup, it's a lot of work.  I use a rougher file to take down the obvious seams, etc, then a fine file to smooth the rest.  Then crocus cloth, then fine and then ultra fine sandpaper and/or steel wool.   You can darned near get a mirror finish with enough work.

The secret of hand building guns was the amount of time a gunmaker (or an apprentice) was willing to put into the work.  If you look at the early guns vs. the later ones, the biggest change was the standardization of things to reduce the actual hand work.  Finishes were simplified, stocks were standardized for machine production and decorations greatly simplified or done away with altogether. 

Though it is tempting to say that the old guns were essentially "Rich Man's Guns" (and many were), the fact was that many people put a lot of time and effort into the less fancy guns as well.  My great love of simple antique rifles and pistols come from the often meticulous care and workmanship often put into even the simplest of guns.

Yeah, it takes a while to do it right.  That's what I love about working on guns.  Once finished, it's not "just another trigger guard."  It's YOUR trigger guard, with your work lavished on it.

Best of luck with your project!

David