Brass Portholes
So the clear coat on brass will always fail eventually. It’s one of Magic Brock’s least favorite things, because once it goes, it’s really a pain to deal with. Today’s project began once we hung the cute little anchors which hold open the portholes. They’re shiny and pretty and new. In contrast, the porthole was gungy and corroded and green. In other words, not acceptable.
So out came the sandpaper. I figured I couldn’t make it worse than it was, so I might as well be reasonably aggressive. I was really hoping that they were solid brass and not plated! I started with 320 grit, which basically removed the failed clear coat and gave me the start of a warm sheen. Then I followed it with 600 grit to polish, then some Prism Polish for shine and then a coat of our very favorite wax (Carnu-B) for protection.
I got lucky – they are solid through and through. This first one cleaned up pretty well. It was a couple of hours of solid labor and my arms are a little tired.
But well worth it for the finished product! No more for today – must pace myself so that I don’t get burned out on it.
Key Trick to Decluttering
I like to think I’m pretty good at decluttering and keeping stuff to a minimum. It’s one of the reasons boat life has been so easy and good for me. I like the way this writer put it – the bucket analogy makes perfect sense to me.
“Purge excess possessions — ruthlessly.
The more stuff you have, the harder it is to get and stay organized, because there’s less space and more laundry, more dishes and more to clean. As Tuckman said, “At some point, it becomes impossible [to organize] — you can’t organize 10 gallons of water into a 5-gallon bucket.”
More here – it doesn’t just apply to people with ADD.
experience