Brass portholes

[Irish Mist]

Well I was one who thought the brass looked nice aged.. Well it kept aging and was looking like steel or some kind of space metal .. So I had a sample of Prisim metal polish and put a bit on a rag and tried it on the outside.. Without a lot of work I had a nice little patch of shinny brass about the size of a quarter ... . So 3 hr later after removing the inner part and then re installing.. I had one nice looking brass porthole.. I was amazed how much better the inside came up as well... So 2 more to do 🙂

 

[Boont Boater]

Sounds good. We will check it out. Post a picture when you get done.

Jeff

 

[Irish Mist]

I will.. I'm almost done # 2 I have it down to about two hours 🙂

 

[jzois]

When your done, take the time to wipe with Acetone, tape them off and spray with either Rustoleum or Krylon clear. Did mine and a brass bell back in May, no more polishing. But I haven't done inside yet.

JZ

 

[Irish Mist]

Thanks for the advice . Will look for the spray

 

[DBBRanger]

Does anyone have long term experience with coating the ports with clear spray? I am hesitant to because I would expect the coating to degrade over time and take more effort to remove the coating compared to cleaning the coated port.

 

[Irish Mist]

Well after one day my port hole is looking tarnished already It cleaned up in a snap but I'm going to look at the spray coating as I know I won't be cleaning every day. After my deep cleaning it took only about 5 min to restore it again but is a little disheartening to see all your hard work go away in one day . I am going to take my chances with a protective spray .

 

[coreychamness]

If you spray it with varnish/lacquer you will probably eventually regret it as you work hard to take it all back off. I haven't tried yet but intend to try out some of the more enduring wax/polish type coatings. When I was in the military I spend many hours taking off lacquer applied by factory or others on various brass things - all of which eventually spot.

Corey

 

[Stevan47]

Hi guys: Hello from 'Down Under' here in Perth, Western Australia. If there is one thing I dislike more that ironing shirts and polishing shoes (bad habit from Navy days), it is restoring brass fittings which are always exposed to moisture and salt air/spray. Nevertheless, when you get those scuttles (port holes, to some) polished they certainly look shipshape and very eye catching. It takes a bit of time, but it is well worth it when you launch at the slipway and people come by and compliment you on the state of your vessel. Must be all those years I spent in the Navy, I guess.

For the record, down here in Australia, I have found there is no substitute for a product called 'Brasso'. It is probably the only effective cleaner I know of for getting brass 'up to scratch'. I would be interested to know if there are any other similar products which might be as good, or better. Also, I have previously tried different sorts of spray and coatings, once the brass is gleaming, but they still don't seem to last and then if you want to polish the brass again you have to remove the coating. Seems like it is just one of those chores which are inevitable if you own a boat and want to look good.

Any thoughts? Happy to try new products and/or processes.

 

[Irish Mist]

Stevan
The Prisim Polish I used worded very well. I decided not to coat them as I thought it might turn into a nightmare later.. Now that they are clean I think if I just do once a week they will come back very easily .. It was just discouraging after all the hand polishing to have them dull after just one day.. But that I guess is the price I pay to be down in the sunny south 🙂

 

[DBBRanger]

I made covers for my ports after I did a major clean. When protected from rain or splashing, they look pretty decent for a month or more. I used a black rubber dog dish I found at Walmart and then attached a suction cup to it that sucks onto the glass to hold it in place. I only put it on when I'm not using the boat.

 

[bluebayou]

 

[bluebayou]

Well, I'm new to uploading photos to "Post a Reply," but with Dr. Bruce's assistance, there it is.
Thank you, Bruce Moore, for keeping our website understandable to all who ask.
I'd like to introduce the concept of "Zen and the Art of Porthole Maintenance."
Brasso is all I ever used, and I would find a spot where the boat was calm, and I had a few hours,
put on some music perhaps ( or not ), and vanish into the depths of the brass and the colors.
I found it very relaxing for an "A type" personality like mine. Of course, no other TugNuts are Type A, right?
I have to laugh whenever the brass porthole discussion comes up again-----it's like the sliding window
discussion, right, always a newbie starting the thread over again, like it never happened before.
For me, a lot of these technical discussions on TugNuts are just that, too, too, technical.
Whether it's all the software, radar, application,s chart chips and radio signals, the electronics;
or someone packing their drive shaft or changing out their impeller, whoa ! I hired people to
do those things that were beyond me.
BUT, polishing those slightly tarnished brass portholes every week or two, now THAT was
a labor of love. That was a meditation. That changed the hurly burly of life to calm contemplation.
Thanks for this thread, and I fervently hope that Ranger Tugs never stops installing real
BRASS portholes !!

 

[LAKERtoo]

.. just a thought from the guy that is more familiar with cars than boats ( so far) but what about a good quality car wax ? ... I would think it would be good for the summer season .. use a soft old tooth brush to buff out any crevasses where the wax accumulates .. cheap and worth trying anyway ... Rob