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I have a large black and brass horn. It is so severely oxidized that a major portion is covered in green scale.
I want to polish the brass and here's what I tried to no avail...
I first went with car polish, then moved onto rubbing compound... No change
I then tried Brasso, then White Diamond, that just left a white residue that wont come off.
Lastly I tried never dull.. still no change. I was thinking it needs to be sanded but I am unsure
of a few things. First, I don't have a buffer and I am concerned I wont be able to polish outthe sanding marks, also, what grit and how to go about this.
Any help or ideas would be great!

John Duffy (ripduf1) is probably the best person on the forum to help you with advice.

Fran

You might try the old technique of lemon juice (citric acid) with salt. I've soaked small brass items in the solution and it has removed some heavy corrosion. The old technique was to cut a lemon, then dip the cut side into salt and scrub the brass with it. With the cost of fresh lemons as it is I'd use a cheap bottle of juice for an experiment.

The lemon juice and salt works. I'd apply it with fine steel wool. Once you cut most of the tarnished area, move to a brass polish and soft rag. Jerry Blais

When I have a badly tarnished brass horn I start with Sno-Bowl toilet cleaner. A pad of 0000 steel wool dipped in Sno-bowl(wear rubber gloves) than rub lightly on the brass removes even the heaviest tarnish almost instantly. Have lots of clear water available to rinse well as you go, you don't want to leave Sno-bowl on the brass for very long.
After this cleaning you will have a clean dull brass surface. Than start your polishing process as you normally would. I've used this method for years on badly tarnished horns.

Larry Crandell

I sanded the horn down with 320. It took off all the green and tarnish and it actually looks
very nice. I plan on wet sanding it tomorrow with even finer and see if it's ready for a polish

Phonolair wrote:When I have a badly tarnished brass horn I start with Sno-Bowl toilet cleaner. A pad of 0000 steel wool dipped in Sno-bowl(wear rubber gloves) than rub lightly on the brass removes even the heaviest tarnish almost instantly. Have lots of clear water available to rinse well as you go, you don't want to leave Sno-bowl on the brass for very long.
After this cleaning you will have a clean dull brass surface. Than start your polishing process as you normally would. I've used this method for years on badly tarnished horns.

Larry Crandell

I have also used toilet cleaner on brass organ reeds with great success.

Bill

I would have left it alone. Perhaps sounding extreme but originality and character of age is everything to some of us fussy people. Not saying you are doing the wrong thing