[TheForge] TheForge Digest, Vol 125, Issue 3

[Andy Gladish]

Not a big fan of polyurethane on metal- it's kind of like powder coating in
that it's ok til it's compromised, then you might as well strip it and
start all over again.
I've done quite a bit of restaurant work and work in the homes of
restaurant owners and managers, and my go to finish for non stainless areas
is Sculpt Noveau's Insta-Black, which is a selenium based cold blacking.
It's very nice to work with, you can get it anywhere from an antique brown
to a full-on black, depending on how fanatic you are with prep.
Then, the kicker is to seal it with Permalac, a lacquer developed for
outdoor use over patinas on metal sculpture, from the same company.
I often use rattle can lacquer from the hardware store, but the important
thing is that lacquer and polyurethane are two very different animals. Once
you use lacquer, you probably won't use PU again on steel.
Hope things work out for you!