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Life Expectancy of Clear-Coated Brass

Q. We manufacture outside mailboxes and are currently using clear powder coating on brass which it is our understanding will last approx. 15 years. Is this true? Is there a product we can use that would be lifetime?

Gail V [surname deleted for privacy by Editor]
metalsmiths - Gloucester, Virginia
2000

A. Hi, Gail.

Frankly I would be very surprised if clear powder coating could survive 15 years or even the majority of that without peeling, yellowing, or the brass beneath it discoloring.

The only similar finish which I think would "last a lifetime" are the PVD (physical vapor deposition) finishes like zirconium nitride. This requires a machine costing a million dollars and up, and probably an undercoat of nickel electroplating, and maybe chrome plating, so I think you would have to farm out such work. And although ZrN looks a lot like brass, it isn't.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.

Q. Does anyone know the lifespan of brass metal alloy?

ismail kef
student - birmingham, U.K.
May 24, 2016

A. Hi Ismail. As I'm sure you understand, only living things have an actual lifespan. When people talk about 'the lifespan' of inanimate objects they are actually asking "how long until so-and-so happens and we consider the object no longer useful".

What kind of a brass object do you have in mind, in what kind of environment, and what do you anticipate happening to it that will make you say it is no longer useful? For most applications brass can be useful for a very long time. Thanks.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
May 2016

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