Hi Guys and Gals
Does anybody know of a fast and easy way to tarnish brass? I mistakenly bought some shiny brass hinges and after I put them on I decided that a rustic look would be much better. Fast because I need to get this done before Christmas and easy because of the time also. I would try to buy a more rustic looking hinge but the holes are already drilled.
Thanks, ZABO
Replies
Find a jar with lid of sufficient size to contain the item requiring aging. Soak some cotton wool in ammonia and place it in bottom of jar. Suspend brass item in jar and attach top. Brass item will tarnish in 20 minutes or so depending on room temperature. Keep an eye on it, once it's at the level of age you want, remove and neutralize the brass with clean water.
Edited 12/17/2008 6:19 pm ET by rdasilva
Edited 12/17/2008 6:21 pm ET by rdasilva
Was told that wet walnut shavings will give brass the same look of time aged metal. It takes a day or two or longer if you want it darker. The man aged his brass for machines he restored so the new parts matched the old.
You may need to remove any finish on the brass before you can antique it. Much of the bright brass has a laquer finish to retard the corrosion. Acetone / Nail Polish Remover, usually makes short work of it.
Black for brass:
2oo gm copper carbonate
1 lit ammonia /
25%/ Cold immersion!
Brown for brass:
5 gm copper sulphate
5o gm potassium permanganate
1 lit water Hot immersion(9o C)!2-5 min.
Yellowish-brown to orange-red for brass
100 gm copper sulphate
5o gm sodium chlorate
1 lit water Hot immersion (9oC)!
Where do you find 25% ammonia?Joe
I found it at my local Ace Hardware store.
Using a lower concentration will just slow down the reaction.
Not sure where to buy it any more. I think they may have started restricting sales, because there are several explosives that could be made using it, and it is used in the the production of methamphetamine.
I used to get it from work, it was used in the blue print machines. You could try getting it from a Blue Printers shop.
Another way is to use gun bluing (Birchwood Casey's Super Blue). You may have to remove the lacquer first, as others have said.
Rick W
I've had good results with gun bluing. After removing the laquer, I alternated applications of a minute or so with wiping off with water and judicious polishing, at first with with steel wool and then finer abrasives. The wiping off and polishing brightened the smooth areas and left the nooks and crannies darker, provided all the laquer was gone. It worked- on double bass tuners, they're wormscrew gears on plates, they wound up looking older than the truly old ones. My experience is limited to this, so take that into account.
Here is a source for any kind of patina that you might like. Just find Patina in the index, then find samples of what works.
http://www.sculpt.com/
The "traditional" method to add a patina to copper (brass is copper and zinc) is to use "Liver of Sulfur."
http://www.dickblick.com/zz605/05/
Or do a Google search.
Rich
http://www.birchwoodcasey.com/sport/index.html
Birchwood Casey's "Brass Black" would be the better product. Liver of Sulphur works best on Coopper and not well at all on brass. Worked as a Metalsmith so have extensive experience with many patina finishes. Do you know what liver of sulphur smells like when applying????
Rotten eggs!Rich
Civil War re-enactors age or tarnish their replica brass coat buttons by soaking them in urine over night (I am not a Civil War re-enactor).
T.Z.
"Civil War re-enactors age or tarnish their replica brass coat buttons by soaking them in urine over night"
Let's hope they take their coats OFF first. ;-)
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
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