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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Changing Brass Came in a Glass Cabinet Door to Zinc

I have glass cabinet doors with a brass caming design through them. I want to change the brass to a zinc or nickel look. How do I accomplish this?

Paula Gilligan
home owner - Boston, Massachusetts
June 9, 2009

Hi, Paula. 50 years ago things were what they looked like they were. Our technology revolution has had the side effect that it's unfortunately very difficult to know what you actually have anymore, and consequently what reactions will happen with various chemicals.

A lot of "brass" today is not brass but a brass-tone lacquer. It could be that simply applying a lacquer thinner ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] Warning! highly flammable! will remove the brass color, so that's how I'd start. Let us know if lacquer thinner ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] Warning! highly flammable! does anything.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 9, 2009

I took your advice and used lacquer thinner ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] Warning! highly flammable! on the brass caming, but only the soldered corners changed color so I think that the caming design is "real" brass. What is the next step I can take to change the color of the brass to a zinc or nickel color?

Paula Gilligan
home owner - Boston, Massachusetts
June 14, 2009

July 3, 2009

I'm not really advocating electroplating at home, but you can get a very inexpensive tin-zinc plating kit from Eastwood if you wish.

Please let us know if it works out for you. Also, note that you would need to dip the camé, which may not be practical. There are professional "brush plating" kits available, but these cost much more.

Or you could do "immersion silvering" -- this puts a very thin coat of silver plating on brass.

Or you could send it to a plating shop for plating.

The best choice might be paint, though.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Q. Moving into a house that also has brass came in the side panels of the entry. Was wondering what method you used and how your project turned out.

Joyce Martin
- Tyler Texas USA
May 18, 2014

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