Which way is the GRAIN of brass?

[UTUSN]

Previously in this soap opera, there was this BLURRY pic of a brushed brass Zippo lighter onto which I affixed some military pins:

Shortly after, one of the pins unglued. The blurbs from Zippo included the info that this brushed brass has a "light protective coating" that eventually wears off with use, but that if it is wanted to remove the coating, a "Scotch Brite type" pad could be used---------rubbing WITH THE GRAIN of the brass. Which way would that be? Upon deciding to do away with the coating, all the other pins either fell off or I helped them off.

And back to the adhesive, the one I tried, unsuccessfully was a Super Glue type. I have on hand Gorilla, which didn't work on some other project, and JB Weld, which I'm going to try after removing the protective coating. Perhaps some clamping is needed. Suggestions/ideas about what metal to metal glue to use will be appreciated, as well as instruction on the GRAIN of the brass.

The pins might be DIFFERENT metals or composites. They're not plastic, although they seem to be less dense than, say, IRON or STEEL. I'll be gone for awhile. Thanks.

[Ptah]

1. Since the lighter was most likely formed by a die, the grain

will be vertical in your photos.

[chaska]

2. Are there visible scratches on it?

That's what they're referring to when they say grain, the direction in which the 'brushing' occured. You can look at it with a magnifying glass if you can't see the direction with the naked eye. If you can't find a direction then it doesn't matter anyway, scotchbrite away.

You might try silicone to glue on your pins. It sticks to metal well. Just use a tiny bit though, otherwise you'll have to deal with a lot of squeezed out silicone. Cleanup will be a bitch.

If not silicone then the only way to go is epoxy. It must be a GOOD epoxy. Walmart brands won't do. Quick set would be best. And (VERY IMPORTANT) before epozying you must score the pins and the lighter to give the glue something to grip to. You'd need to scratch it up with a sharp object of some sort, an ice pick, knife (be careful) or something. Even though it says that a glue works for metals it won't unless you give it something to hold on to.

But try the silicone first. Scoring won't be necessary with the silicone.

[UTUSN]

3. Thanks, you two n/t

[Aristus]

4. Polishing brass is a serviceperson's nightmare.

A long, tiring, discouraging, drudging chore.

Right after I graduated from Basic, I got Sta-Brite. Best military purchase I ever made.

[leeroysphitz]

5. In basic one of my drill instructors got a SERIOUS ass chewing

from the battalion Sargent Major for wearing Sta-Brite to an inspection (surprisingly he did this in front of all of us trainees!)

Although it was available at the PX I avoided Sta-Brite until out of training also.



End of boring pointless anecdote.

[UTUSN]

6. Have you seen the Brasso can lately?

I'd been out of touch with it for 30 years. Now it's got some cockamamie inscrutable thing that is IMPOSSIBLE to open. I can read and follow instructions, but this thing is IMPOSSIBLE!!1 I say. I even called the 800 # for Brasso and the "customer service" person just read some statement saying that EPA regulations require this kind of container. She tried walking me through opening the can and I ended up puncturing the can. When she started reading the so-called "EPA required" thing again, I stopped her and asked her to talk like a real human. She said, "So, you're not buying THAT answer"---hahahah. She ended up sending me a refund for a dollar-something.

[leeroysphitz]

7. I was always a "Never Dull" guy myself.

I have a can around the house somewhere and that stuff still SMELLS as strong as ever.