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-----Need plating shop to restore Japanned Hardware
We purchased an old house built in 1903 and have been in the process of restoring it for the past six and a half years. The hardware is "japanned" and some pieces, especially the door knobs, have lost their finish over time. It does appear that the base metal is steel rather than brass. A great deal of the hardware was encapsulated in multiple layers of lead paint at some time but most had either worm off or was patchy. The pieces were soaked in hot water and liquid soap and scrubbed down with #0000 steel wool ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] . SOS pad ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil link] was used for some stubborn cases along with a razor blade. There was some unfortunate scratching of the finish at times, but it was minimal. Almost all the original lacquer finish was removed during this process. I've used an acidic water solution of copper salts to try and restore some of the black patina to varying degrees of success. The finish does not do justice to the original, however. My immediate need is to find a plater that could possibly restore the finish to the knobs since they are in the worst shape as one would expect. Thanks.
Anthony JohnsonHobbyist - Baker City, Oregon
December 6, 2009
Sorry! Finishing.com is temporarily Read-Only.
Ted Mooney is retiring but I have several offers to take it over.
We're working hard to make sure we find it the best new home.