[TheForge] Flat black finish

[Andrew Vida]

Day short and a dollar late again.  Story of my life.


For future reference: cat pee will turn even stainless steel jet black.  
As for matt, flat, gloss, or high shine, that would depend on the 
surface treatment prior to applying the pee.


As to getting the pee... fill litter box with sawdust and let kitty so 
his thing.  You can then moisten the dust further and pack the work 
lightly into it, in a retort of some sort.  This is a common technique 
for achieving certain patinations.

Long ago when I was doing the monstet switchblade project, one of my 
cats zotzed a chunk of surface-ground 440 and everywhere the pee made 
contact, the blacked oxide layer I'd ever seen, formed.


On 3/11/16, 11:33 PM, Mike Spencer wrote:
>> 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
>