[TheForge] brown stuff

Thu Jun 20 00:17:00 2002

You might try the approach below.
Steve Smith
-----------------------------
The rust finish on iron and steel that I like best I found while reading
about some of the early Indian arti-fakers.  Add bleach (clorox) to water -
put your metal items in it - and leave them in there for as old as you want
them to get.  The more bleach you use, the faster the rust builds.  Leave
stuff in too long, and it will pit your iron.  Leave it in way too long and
it will rust your iron completely away. 

Take your piece out, netralize the bleach and stop the rusting with lots of
water and some baking soda.  Wipe the iron off, and coat it with oil or your
favorite clear finish.  The color created is the same as iron that has been
exposed to the weather for decades, or buried for many years.  This dark
brown to almost black finish can and does fool some experts, so be carefull
to mark your creations.  Arrowheads made from barrel hoops and treated this
way have passed as original to some archologists, universities, and museums.

I just like the stained, weathered, old look - like on most of the old tools
I have picked up.  Now, if I could just find a way to recreate that polished
look you see on tongs that have seen many years of use and sweat without
putting in all those years of use and sweat....
Mike Ameling
Bear Creek Station
------------------------

Gladish Family wrote:

>Who has a secret recipe for browning steel that they'd like to share with
>their 250 best friends?
>Went into the house and garden store that I wholesale to and they said that
>the hot color for this year is brown.
>She showed me some imported stuff that was getting good response. It's not
>really a rust brown, it's more like brown paint or something- flat, sort of
>burnt sienna ish. But doesn't really look like paint, either. It looks
>thinner than a latex paint and more matte than most oils.
>I'd rather power brush and lacquer it all, but this is about what the ladies
>want...
>TIA,
>Andy G.
>Guemes Island, WA
>
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