Question about preventing tarnish on bronze

I’m working on some bronze pieces that need some sort of
anti-tarnish coating.

I’ve had some success with hand applying or dipping using Midas
Lacquer however I’m looking for a way to coat hundreds of tiny
components. I tried spraying them but they ended up looking more
matte with tiny bubbles. Any ideas on process or products would be
appreciated.

Patrik

A VERY Tough clear coat is made by
POR-15: Professional High Performance Vehicle Restoration Products, their catalyzed urethane clear
coat (Glisten PC). It is used a lot on yachts to coat bright work so
it doesn’t corrode. It is a bit thick, but it can be thinned. I have
found it goes on best sprayed rather than brushing which gives a
thicker coating and often doe small bubbles, neither of these
problems occur with sprayed coatings. It can also be colored and
ultra fine glitter can be incorporated in the coating as well. UV
inhibited and it gets stronger in moist environments. It is a
catalyzed AND thinner based coating. It is the toughest clear coat
coating I have ever had to remove.

Also available is a clear coat lacquer by Birchwood Casey the
thinned coating is Incralac, the water based coating in Syncrlac. I
have used the incralac with great success but I have never used the
Incralac. This product was originally formulated for use on bronze
sculpture or any copper alloy, especially for outdoors. It has UV
inhibitors in it, has about a 15 year exposure life, when it starts
to degrade it can be removed with MEK then re applied on the
bronze/copper right after removal.

POR products can usually be purchased from good automotive paint
supply houses or from PR 15 directly (shipping is a bit pricy as it
is considered a hazardous material). The BC products can be purchased
from Sculpt Nouveau - Patinas and Metal Finishes. They also have some
other clear coats for copper alloys of their own formulation. I would
think they are great but I have not had any long term use of them.
Debbie would be happy to help you (PHONE: 1-800-728-57870). They are
on the West coast of the US if you want to call them.

Hope this helps a bit.
john dach

I use Renaissance wax (various places carry it. look through a few
for prices) for copper and brass and It works very well. It is of
course wax and will over time wear off if rubbed, but if you don’t
plan to have the items in contact with things much it should work and
last quite some time.

It is used in museums for the same purpose

I use Renaissance wax (various places carry it. look through a few
for prices) for copper and brass and It works very well. It is of
course wax and will over time wear off if rubbed, but if you don’t
plan to have the items in contact with things much it should work
and last quite some time. It is used in museums for the same purpose

The best solution I have found for preventing tarnish on any metal
and resist scratching is the electro ceramic plating system by
Legor. Fantastic product in my mind. I have used it for a couple of
years now on everything from bronze to sterling. Just my experience.

Hello,

Thanks to all who have added their voices to this discussion. There
are so many products out there that don’t work for this process,
it’s incredibly informative to learn from the posters that there are
products that really have worked for them.

There is a major caveat, however, and that is, many of these
products noted produce fumes and/or airborne droplets, neither of
which should be breathed. Putting on a respirator, even when
designed for this, is insufficient, since the fumes, etc. remain in
the air once you remove the respirator, defeating the purpose of the
respirator.

The best protection in this case is always adequate, active
ventilation to remove from your breathing space anything you don’t
want to inhale! The key words in that sentence are: always and
active. ‘Always’ means that every time you use a product that
creates ‘stuff’ you don’t want to breathe, you turn on your
ventilation. ‘Active’ means the ventilation must not simply be an
open window (in this case air can blow in and nothing insures that
air from you direction will be moved out), but must be a strong
enough ventilation system that will actually draw out any dangerous
airborne stuff. And it’s important to remember to leave the
ventilation system running for awhile after you are finished using
whatever product you are using.

And if I were using anything with urethane in it, or solvents, or
anything I could smell, or anything I couldn’t smell that had nasty
ingredients in it, I would use a respirator AND ventilation!

Read the manufacturer’s warnings, check out the MSDS on any product.
You only have the lungs you were born with, and they are delicate.

Linda Kaye-Moses