Check this out.
We recevied a (wood) box of brass bar about a month ago, boxed at the mill.
When we opened the box the bars had what might be considered a nice patina for an antique...
But for our purposes that's just not good.

We took some pics and called in the supplier who called in their supplier (the mill). The mill guy's response was that they were buying up boxes so quickly their box supplier had to use green wood.
The green wood is what caused an accellerated tarnish.

My question - does this sound plausible to you?
The bars look like the were stored outside in the weather.

Actually, I think it might be possible. Each wood has its own characteristics, some are more acidic than others, some are wetter. That doesn't necessarily solve your problem, though does it? Time for new specifications in packaging?

Actually, I think it might be possible. Each wood has its own characteristics, some are more acidic than others, some are wetter. That doesn't necessarily solve your problem, though does it? Time for new specifications in packaging?

Yeah - I'll wait and see what the official corrective action from the supplier is, but I think the mill had to suck a lot of the back and not just from us according to the sales guy.

*sigh*

Domestic brass is becoming a big pain - the mills keep shutting down or selling to bigger outfits. According to ourpurchasing guy Mueller is the only domestic mill left that sells via distributor. We're not big enough to buy mill direct.

Yeah - I'll wait and see what the official corrective action from the supplier is, but I think the mill had to suck a lot of the back and not just from us according to the sales guy.

*sigh*

Domestic brass is becoming a big pain - the mills keep shutting down or selling to bigger outfits. According to ourpurchasing guy Mueller is the only domestic mill left that sells via distributor. We're not big enough to buy mill direct.This shouldn't be a problem at all. The metallurgist for the mill should be able to recommend protective material to line the wood box to prevent the condition (boxes are to protect the brass from dings, bending, etc.)

Depending on next use of the brass (machining will take away the surface patina without further treatment), there are chemical rinses (low toxicity) to clean the patina. (At home, I use my own mixture of vinegar and table salt (NaCl) for cleaning brass tools and plaques.)

It's almost certain the patina does not affect the diameter of the bar beyond mill tolerances - that it is merely an appearance attribute.

What are the bars for? could they be dipped in parafin (or similar) prior to being boxed? I know that woud increase labor and probably cost, but if the supplier cannot change the box package, maybe they should look into other methods to protect the product (per the ISO requirments) If they changed the packaging and now you are getting a sub-prime product, they need to fix it somehow.

What are the bars for? could they be dipped in parafin (or similar) prior to being boxed? I know that woud increase labor and probably cost, but if the supplier cannot change the box package, maybe they should look into other methods to protect the product (per the ISO requirments) If they changed the packaging and now you are getting a sub-prime product, they need to fix it somehow.

The sales guy from the mill swore to us it won't happen again.
Haven't received back the CAR though.

It's already been returned and replaced.