What I did at my house today...

[Corsetière]

Corcetiere, we have seen your work, I don’t think you need deities, unless of course they are looking for a lesson on paint stripping from you.

ha ha! I guess I am more praying for strength, speed, and fortitude. I am so sick of having to do tasks to appease my Health Dept overlords. But the good news is I am almost done with these jobs!

[Mick_VT]

It's chrome over brass..

Interesting, it looks much older in style than that!

[Willa]

It's chrome over brass..

Interesting, it looks much older in style than that!

Not a metallurgist here: It is a shiny white metal over a yellow/bronze metal that shows in a couple of worn spots.

The seller was the same person who was giving away a couple of large antique windows with wavy glass, that I picked up for $ 0.00 this fall. I had only done a porch pick-up for those, so I hadn't met her before. She had a couple of other good - but not needed items for sale - and I got a peek into her house as I paid her and she grabbed the towel bar. "I spy with my little eye..." I hope I'll buy from her again - she's on a direct bus route and her prices have been great ! She has a small deco (?) sconce light, like you would install over a sink in the kitchen or a bathroom for $ 10.00. The only place I might need such a light would be over the utility sink in the back porch. BUT: the wall is solid brick, so a line would need to be run externally from the existing box in the ceiling, down the wall = not a $ 10.00 job. And I can get by with a pendant light suspended from the ceiling that plugs into the nearby outlet. If anyone is breathless over that fixture I'd be happy to buy it and mail as necessary. For the life of me I can't figure out how the fuxture is supposed to be mounted. There are no holes for screws in the base ? (Also - completely not an electrician either). Anyhow:

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[Mick_VT]

the light looks Chrome to my eye. Chrome plating was not invented until the 1920s - it doesn't wear so easily as nickel so your wear spots may point to it being the softer metal. Hold it side by side with known chrome and the difference should jump out.

I have all nickel in my bathroom - I love it but it tends to loose it's luster quickly and corrode easily (especially if I get bathroom cleaners on it)... I guess that's one reason chrome became more popular

[Manalto]

the light looks Chrome to my eye.

Most likely. Mick, the confusion is because Willa posted a towel bar earlier with some wear on it. I speculated that it was nickel because of the wear (chrome is definitely tougher; when it does fail, it tends to pit or flake, doesn't it?) which you commonly see, as you said, on bathroom fixtures, especially faucets.

Aesthetically, I prefer the warmer color of nickel plating, even with some honest wear.

[Corsetière]

Phew! What a huge project! I only have one side of the last door to do yet and I think I will be able to finish it tomorrow! That was 6 huge doors in total! I used the Speedheater 1100 (infrared tool) and I do have to say I think it was faster than chemical stripper, once I got the hang of it. I am thinking about buying their Cobra model.

[Willa]

The doors are looking great. The surface area on a door is surprising when it is being stripped, at least in my experience. I'm always all "lalala this will take a little over an hour" then about 6 hours later I am still not done one side. And those look like substantial doors, Corsetiere !

Good work well done.

[Corsetière]

Yeah! I do think it took me about 4-5 hours! I filled up an entire contractors bucket with paint chips just from stripping two sides! Crazy! There's still a lot of shellac residue on them which is why they look so irregular. I'm borrowing the tool so I am trying to bust out as much stripping as possible before I need to get it back to my friend. So I won't even be able to finish the doors right away and be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. lol!

[GinaC]

They really will be stunning when you are done, great work!

How do you keep your area neat while working? Do you just vacuum a lot while you go? And is that brown paper or cardboard on the floor?

[phil]

I'd pull the doors off and set them on sawhorses. Making the ergonomics better for yourself will help.
if you nail down a coffee can to a plank or something then when you clean your knife it just takes one hand since you then don't need to hold the can down too. The doors look great.