It seems that I am having a hard time getting a brass finish that stands out, it is usually very dull and hardly noticeable. Here is the process I usually use:

- Black heat then brass
- Apply beeswax (hot enough to smolder)
- Green coal in fire and hold over for just a few moments
- Let Cool
- Buff with rag (mixed results here, especially if there is excess wax)

Just looking for any suggestions for getting a good finish that has a blackened yet smooth appearance with bright brass highlights.

Get the metal hot enough to melt the brass from the brass brush, and then coat and seal with beeswax. Why go back to the fire and smoke ?

Ok, so I was probably not brushing at a high enough temp and about the smoke, well I have been under the impression that this would "blacken" the piece up a little. Is this true or did I just conjure this up in my head (can't remember where the idea came from) :confused:

Jeremiah
I have found that the brass ( takes ) at a certain temp
Too hot and it wont take
too cold and it wont take
So i start brushing when i think its a tad too hot and brush untill all of a sudden it just takes the brass from the brush and keep brushing untill its to cold to take any more.
You can allmost make it look like it has been bronzed with a little practice.
Different brass brushes act differently
my favorite is a brass brush from wallmart for cleaning your bbq grill with .
I have one from a bowling alley that is used to clean your bowling shoes with that puts an entirely different color of brass finish on than the others.
Hope this helps
its a lot easier to show than to explain.
Mike

All I can add to the above is wire brush real good first to remove scale. Like Mike says "all of a sudden it just takes the brass from the brush". Once you have a light coating of brass it really starts to grab and goes on much quicker. Stop whenever you have enough on, there is a lot of variation possible .How hot your piece is when you put the wax on can give you some different looks too.

Hi, Jerimiah. The only thing I can add is that the smaller the bristles on the brush the better the brass transfers.
Or if you know the dangers, you can buy a brass or bronze cup brush from the welding supply and really put some brass onto the piece.
Here is a piece I did as described above, start a little to hot, and keep brushing till it grabs. This actually looks like it was made of brass in real life.