At the shop more often than not the size of the projects are rather large, be they several hundred feet of rail, 3 story tall all textured steel staircase, spiral staircases ect. And quite often because of that size and the need to generally haul them up the mountains on a given day for an install we run out of time when it comes to the final finish, the patina and the overcoat.
Thus I have often found myself in the dark in back of our shop with a propane weedburner putting off a three foot blue flame and a spray bottle in my other hand heating up the steel to increase the
chemical reaction rate for the patina.
Now the primary component of our basic patina formula is water, bound hydrogen and oxygen, the secondary component is technical grade (35%) hydrogen peroxide again hydrogen and oxygen.
Generally we heat, then apply the solution, but with the drop in temperature during winter, and especially cooling from wind after dark Ive started to apply the solution through the flame while the steel is still hot.
Thats when I noticed it, the disassociation of the hydrogen and oxygen flares the blue propane flame to an orange flare, increasing its overall size. Im not sure if its the added fuel of the hydrogen or the added oxygen responsible, but standing out there in the cold, its playing with all the pretty colors that is really enjoyable.