Citric acid brass cleaner

[Longwood]

Hi Longwood,

Just a word to the wise: I don't know about its current formulation, but I do know that Brasso used to have a good bit of ammonia in it. The ammonia was there because it attacks between the brass crystals to weaken the metal bonds and make it easier to buff to a shine.

That's great for brass buttons where strength isn't much of an issue. It's not so great for brass that you're trusting to hold 40,000 or 50,000 PSI a few inches from your face. Strength is most definitely an issue in cartridge brass.

Take a sniff at the top of the Brasso can. If you smell ammonia, I _strongly_ recommend that you change your polishing procedure. I also recommend that you do not use the cases that were subjected to ammonia. You MIGHT get away with it, but if you don't, the few pennies for the cost of a case is going to look like mighty cheap insurance.

Thanks for the warning.
I used mostly Nu-finish and not very much of it.
I figure at a bout a 't' spoon of brasso, in enough mix to fill a small Lman tumbler, it is not a lot of amonia.
Plus, since everything worked much faster than all else I have tried in the past, I doubt the hour in the vibrator hurt it enough to be concerned about.
I also feel that the coating the Nu-finish puts and leaves on the brass helps protect it from the small amount of ammonia.
I am aware of how it and many other things can damage brass so I rinsed the brass quite well when I took it from the tumbler.
I will let you know if I have any issues at all with the brass.
That is,,,
If,,,
I survive the tests.
Over the years, I have seen several brass faucet handles that had deep pits (over 1/8") in them from peoples hands touching them.

[S-A-A-D]

Lots of great info in this verrrrrryyy long thread! But I have a problem someone might have the answer to...

I have been using citric acid plus dish washing detergent in an ultrasonic to clean brass. It comes up beautifully! Here's some nice shiny brass, just cleaned:




But once it has dried and sat around for a day or two, it looks pretty shabby again:




Here's a 223 case I cleaned yesterday:



The same case, swished around in a citric solution for about 10 seconds comes back up looking really nice:





My question... how can I keep the brass looking nice, like that "just cleaned" photo?

I don't want to coat them with varnish or anything oily... that could cause problems firing them. But there must be some way to prevent that immediate light tarnishing?

Cheers,
Richard.

[No_1]

I keep mine looking good by giving the clean dry brass a run in the tumbler that has nu-finish added. The wax coats the brass and protects it from oxidation.

[Reloader06]

Rinse at least 3 times. Dry and a quick tumble in ground corn cob with EITHER Mothers Mag Wheel Polish or Dillon Rapid Polish. So far they stay nice and shiney.


Matt

[StratsMan]

After a short acid wash, I rinse thoroughly AND do a second soak in a base solution. I use an inexpensive liquid industrial degreaser from a box store for that phase. Just a tablespoon or so in a half gallon of water.. A friend of mine uses dishwasher soap for the second wash... works just as well....

Then, in my tumbler, (which I use primarily to dry off my brass) I have about 1 tablespoon of clear, odorless lamp oil on the media... The cob soaks it right up... I don't put it on there for every batch, though... One tablespoon is good for dozens of tumblings... Keeps down the dust during tumbling, and leaves just enough coating on the brass to prevent oxidation and keep in shiney...

[mold maker]

I have brass tumbled with Nu Finish that has remained bright for up to 8 years. It's kept in commercial mayonnaise and slaw jars with snap on lids, that aren't necessarily air tight.

[TAMU74]

I just bought some citric acid at the local Wal-Mart. It was with the canning supplies in the housewares dept.

[cobrarolex]

I got mine on ebay...

[David2011]

Hmmmm...

Vinegar is dilute acetic acid. Photographic stop bath is acetic acid. I'll have to try some Kodak Indicator Stop bath. As a plus, it turns a purpleish color when it's exhausted. Of course, when the brass no longer cleans up, I guess that would be just as good an indicator.

I also have a good case dryer. With summer coming on, the air temp and low humidity will have a batch of cases dry in a half hour or less sitting in the sun.

Regards,

Stew

Stew,

I like and use the solar drying as well. Brass lying in the sun will get hotter than it does in some guns.

I believe that the indicator in stop bath reacts to the alkaline from the developer building up. It probably wouldn't turn purple just from becoming used up as an acid.

David

[David2011]

I just bought some citric acid at the local Wal-Mart. It was with the canning supplies in the housewares dept.

TAMU74,

Thanks for the tip! I found it there, thanks to your post. Under $3 for 7.5 ounces. I had been looking in the grocery area where they also had some Ball jars and some canning stuff but no citric acid.

David

[Bren R.]

I believe that the indicator in stop bath reacts to the alkaline from the developer building up. It probably wouldn't turn purple just from becoming used up as an acid.

It is just a pH indicator... not sure there would be enough of a rise in pH over time for it to be triggered... although when I did leave stop bath unattended for a year in a less than hermetically sealed container, it had turned purple.

Since it's just a weak acetic acid solution, vinegar cut to 30-40% strength is much cheaper.

Bren R.

[meshugunner]

I buy food grade citric acid on ebay or amazon for about $18/5lb bag . Aside from using it as a cleaner, it has many uses in food and drink. Whenever you want a tangy taste citric will do it. Mixed in water with some sweetener and flavoring you can make your own koolaid. It makes fantastic gummi worms - buy bulk gelatin for this. Excellent for adding a little tang to a fruit salad, or even a cheesecake.

Ok. I'm hungry now. Later...

[jhickdog]

.........just keep in mind it also attacks the enamel at the base of your teeth by the gums.

Just saying.

I will be trying it myself for cleaning the insides of bp fired brass.

[762 shooter]

Put Google foo on Lemishine and this makes an interesting read.

http://www.chemistry-blog.com/2012/0...in-lemi-shine/

Also my Walmart canning section has Ball citric acid 7.5 oz. for $3.

FYI

762

[Crashbox]

I have several pounds of citric acid in stock, some from my B&W photo days (and which said hobby is also not totally extinct). Great stuff when used in ultrasonic cleaners. I bought a large supply from The Chemistry Store- the prices were pretty good but the shipping was rather steep.

On an aside, I've experimented with using small amounts of detergents to aid in ultrasonic cleaning in addition to citric acid; the most economical I've found so far is 2-4mL of Tergitol NP-9 per gallon of water (I use an eye dropper) and about three heaping teaspoons of citric acid stirred in. At 120 Fahrenheit and about 5-6 minutes they get real nice and clean; if I'm doing a lot of cases I extend the time a bit toward the end of the session.

I wonder how chromic acid would work...? In any case, citric acid would be 1000000% safer to use as chromic acid is a carcinogen. Just a thought.

On another aside there used to be a case cleaning concentrate on the market (Arrow???) which had some sort of acid in it, I've wondered for a while which acid it is/was... you diluted it with water and put the cases in the solution for about 30-60 seconds IIRC, rinsed and dried.

I'll shut up for now.

[rogn]

Dont know whether its mentioned or not-too many posts----. Amazon has many things youd never suspect, from gunsmithing tools to citric acid. They have about 20+ listings for citric acid.

[Safeshot]

Try Walmart - lemonade mix (as in low priced Kool Aid lemonade). Check ingredients.

[Sgt. Raven]

I have a lemon tree in the back yard and access to more free lemons. What mixture of fresh lemon juice to water we be a good starting point?

[mister c]

after cleaning brass with the citric acid sokution do you have rinse it?

[jabilli]

I keep mine looking good by giving the clean dry brass a run in the tumbler that has nu-finish added. The wax coats the brass and protects it from oxidation.

I used to add a bit of Turtle Wax every once and a while to my tumbling media. Careful with this- Can cause clumping/clogging if any gets inside any cases before the wax is evenly distributed in the media (Add the wax to media without cases in it, turn tumbler on for a bit...After its all spread around, good to go.) I would still do this, but someone bought be a bottle of media that seems to do a good job of coating the brass with some kind of clear oily stuff anyway.

Wish I knew this Citric acid trick before I bought my second tumbler (first one is at a family members house and probably will be there for some time :-p)