Hi,  Charles Davis has found someone in California to tune up his organ
and polish the pipes, but I thought I'd post this note about polishing
brass for future reference.  After checking with a friend who has a
similar organ we concluded that the pipes are probably brass that was
polished and then coated with lacquer (or something similar), as Dell
Urry and others have stated.  The brass has tarnished where the coating
has started to fail.  So the pipes need to have the rest of the coating
removed, the brass re-polished and a new coating applied.

The best way to approach this is to remove the brass tubes from the
pipes and the stoppers from the pipes.  Then you soak the brass parts
in clock cleaning solution, which will remove the remaining lacquer or
varnish and also the tarnish.  Then it's a simple job to re-polish the
brass.  A buffing wheel and/or some brass polish will accomplish this
quite readily.

I would _not_ use an abrasive oil polish like Brasso.  A much better
choice is Wright's Brass Polish made by Weiman (which bought out
Wright's a few years ago).  Elton Norwood told me about Wright's
Polish many years ago and I've used it ever since.  It is water based
and non-abrasive.  It has the added advantage that it does not cause
a chemical reaction between the brass and any ferrous metal nearby.
(For music box cylinders, it prevents the pink stain around each steel
pin caused by other polishes.)  It also reduces oil contamination of
the brass, so that the lacquer will adhere better.

After you get the brass nicely polished, you should scrub it with
something non-abrasive, like "Soft Scrub".  Here's why.  For years
I thought that water would bead up on a clean metal surface.  Not so.
On a really clean surface, it will run off in a smooth sheet.  The
lacquer will adhere better to a really clean surface.

So, clean off the remaining old lacquer, polish to a nice shine with
Wright's polish, clean with "Soft Scrub", and re-coat with spray
lacquer.  I use spray lacquer that is formulated specifically for
metal, which I get from Nancy Fratti.

Regards,
Craig Smith
Upstate New York