[TheForge] Re: Flat black finish

[Mike Spencer]

> Any recommendations for getting a flat black finish on iron or
> steel.  Customer wants something so it looks like it was in a barn
> for the last 50 years.

Bert Shaw, the guy that got me interested in this stuff 50 years ago,
had a neighbor who boasted of being able reliably to date any piece of
ironwork.  Kinda got up Bert's nose.

So Bert borrowed Sonn from the local library, forged up a nice
mid-18th c. door latch, applied 150 years of wear with files and left
it out under the roof gutter drain for a season.  The self-proclaimed
expert firmly authenticated it as early to mid-18th c.

I appreciate that you want faster results than "a season" but nothing
looks more like "old" than rust.  Do whatever to create some deeply
pitted rust -- electrolysis, water twice a day with brine or whatever.
Then a smoke and oil finish with no pre-cleanup.  Linseed oil applied
when the workpiece is just too hot to touch and wiped down won't
remain tacky very long.  And over some decent rust it sure won't look
shiny.

Of course, it won't last forever, either.  My woodshed door hinges --
13 years old -- looked old and black with linseed/smoke finish for a
few years but are now just rusty.


FWIW, YMMV etc.,
- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^