Baldwin makes doorknobs for every door in your home; from simple to intricate in design. More detailed doorknob styles have large escutcheon plates, also known as rose plates, which cover the latching mechanism inside the door. Simply designed doorknob escutcheon plates insert through the latching mechanism and attach to the plate on the opposite side of the doorknob. Removing the escutcheon plate allows you to access and remove the latch mechanism from your door. Look along Baldwin doorknob handle stems for the small setscrews securing the handles to the doorknob. Use a hex key to loosen the set screws Pull the handles from both sides of the door knob. Remove the escutcheon retaining ring from the center of plate if applicable. Insert the tips of retaining ring pliers into the small slots in the retaining ring. Turn the ring counterclockwise. Removing the retaining ring releases the escutcheon plate from the adapter holding the latch mechanism in the door. Look for the two escutcheon plate screws on one side of the doorknob.
Remove the screws from the plate with a Phillips screwdriver. Pull the plates from the face of the door. Things You Will Need Hex key set Retaining ring pliers Phillips screwdriver References Baldwin: Reserve Privacy/Passage Knob and Lever Installation InstructionsBaldwin: Interior Latchset Installation Instructions Passage, Privacy, Full and Half Dummy Suggest a CorrectionSerious Education ... plus the most fun you can have in metal finishing. Q. I am in the process of trying to refinish some Baldwin door hardware. Some of the finish was discolored and I have attempted to strip away the protective coating. I have tried paint stripper, Automotive parts cleaner, Acetone, and am now using , polishing compound and elbow grease. Mechanical erosion seems to be the only solution so far. It seems as though the finish is a plastic and not lacquer. Is there any thing I can use to strip this finish? I plan to buff out the brass and then apply a liquid plastic finish to it. I'd hazard a guess that the coating is a urethane ... and that's very hard to remove.
You tried acetone (well done!), now go to a stronger solvent ... a so-called aromatic solvent. Or if you happen to have some PVC cleaner and it works, then obtain some 'clear' PVC cleaner ... which is tetrahydrofurane ... try your drug store for any powerful solvent, too. Failing that, try the Yellow Pages for 'plastics' and see if there is someone specializing in urethanes. Go & ask them ... the modern deluxe wheel rim repair Companies do use a urethane but I'm unsure of the solvent ... they use it as a last coat on aluminum rims. A. If this is old brass hardware, they might indeed have a hard to remove clearcoat. But "Aircraft Remover" will remove most organic coatings without damaging the brass =>It's noxious stuff, for use outdoors only, standing upwind, and wearing and as a minimum. But if these claim to be Baldwin "Lifetime Finish", I was under the impression that this is a zirconium nitride or similar PVD finish on top of electroplating, rather than being a plastic finish.
So if it's discolored it's probably because some cleaning chemical attacked the finish; I don't think there is any practical way to restore the finish yourself. A. From Masco's website: "Technical innovation like the introduction of Physical Vapor Deposition technology, The Lifetime Finish™ from Baldwin®, has created a new standard in the marketplace: tarnish-free brass. Baldwin continues to develop expertise in this field collecting twelve patents in the process and solidifying our position as innovator and industry leader. Our Lifetime Finish product line is the broadest in the industry and growing." I've heard you can buff the heck out of it and strip it. You will need to replate it though. If it is a lifetime finish, why don't you send it back and get it replaced? A. We used a nitric and sulfuric acid solution to remove the top layer down to the nickel plating underneath. We had to remove the finish on a total of 20 strikes that are going to be gold plated. Our plating source can easily strip the nickel.
I had ordered these in an 030 finish but the distributor gave us the dreaded 003 (Lifetime Finish). A. In response to the Baldwin clear coat, a commercial paint stripper will remove the urethane coating; Jasco or a similar product. I use a much more caustic stripper with the viscosity of water. Q. In regard to the PVD finish and using the combination of the 2 acids, is there a certain percentage used?Those acids are for use within an industrial plating and finishing shop, not out in the field. For one thing, nitric acid will ignite organic materials like sawdust or newspaper. A. A fluoride based acid solution strips titanium/zirconium PVD coatings quite well. ----Ed. note: Thanks Patrick. Readers need to remember that the internet is a giant one-room schoolhouse where you overhear things that may not be at your grade level. The suggestion to use fluoride based acid solutions is advice for the haz-mat trained operators in a plating and metal finishing shop, not advice to consumers.
Fluoride based acids are so hostile to flesh & bone that professionals don't like to even think about them. Q. We have a 13 year old Baldwin mail slot with the lifetime coating and you would swear it was purchased yesterday. We now need some new house numbers 3 inches tall and Baldwin doesn't make numbers that small. Does anybody know of another company that makes 3 inch tall house numbers that are comparable in quality to Baldwin and its coating? I want them to match our polished brass mail slot.The Baldwin finish is supposed to look like polished brass, so polished brass will look like the Baldwin finish. The only thing is, you'll need to lacquer it, and strip and re-lacquer it every few years if it discolors. Q. I bought a house that has about 25 doors, each with a full compliment of Baldwin "Lifetime Finish" Yellow brass. I really don't want to re-outfit all these doors and thought I would age the hinges. So, does anyone know what consumer product will EASILY strip off the finish, so I can apply an aging color-changing solution?