Spring Break Bronze Motor Mount pt1

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It was still to cold here to get much done on the boat.  I did board, open up the drop boards and check things out.  All looks exactly as I left it last fall.  All be it a bit dustier.  This week I'm usually starting bottom paint and beginning to wax the hull but the weather has not cooperated.    I did however get one nice day so I decided to start in on the Spartan bronze motor mount.  This is the only piece of bronze I have not polished up yet.  So it was in pretty rough shape compared to the rest of the boat.

Earlier this winter Myles and I did a science experiment on cleaning pennies.  "He is way into being a scientist right now"  Here he is in his lab coat working on another science project. If it weren't for this kid's experiment I probably would have just done ketchup or vinegar like most bronze cleaning web posts suggest but I figured why not transfer that kids science experiment to a real life situation.



I test spotted several different spots with ketchup, vinegar, juice from the jalapeno jar.  By the way the pickled jalapeno juice does wonders, but I decided to go with Sriacha Sauce due to the limited about of jalapeno juice in a jar and Sriacha stay where you put it while jalapeno juice just runs all over the place.


 So the first thing to do is coat it down and wait 20 ish minutes.

Then wipe it off.  Be sure to wear gloves.  

 

Next I rinsed and hit the remainder with a scrub brush. 


Here is a picture with the first layer of gunk off.

I waited for it to dry pry about a month or so.  You may not wish to wait this long.  Then I hit it with a brass brush on an electric drill.


Next I switch to my Dremel tool to get into all the little cracks and cerevisiaes.  I really like these little buffing wheels they feel a bit like a 3M scratch pad and come in a variety of grits.  

Finished buffing you get a very nice shinny finish all the way around, and I think it has been worth all the work not to look back and see an ugly green Spartan staring back up.  Ha ha that's a dig at you MSU folks.   


When the weather warms up a bit more I'll shoot it with a coat of lacquer, put the wood motor plate back on and off we will go for the season. 






Comments

  1. Bill le SkeepSeptember 8, 2015 at 4:53 PM

    Well what do you know! Another product. There must be some vinegar in that sauce?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris September 8, 2015 at 9:03 PM

      There probably is but I think the tomato sauce and peppers have some additional acid kick.

      Delete

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