Patinas and Finishes

[Woody]

We spend countless hours at the forge creating beautiful objects and then devote mere minutes to applying a finish to the object. Often all it gets is a quick blast from a can of flat black spray paint or we burn some wax or oil on the metal and call it good. I think the fruits of our labors deserve better treatment. How about everybody listing their favorite ways of finishing their metal creations. Some of my favorites are listed below:

1. Watco Dark Walnut Oil with a little gold paint mixed in to give an antique bronze finish.

2. Dilute oil based paint with at least 50% polyurathane varnish to give a translucent paint finish where the metal will show through.

3. Cold gun blue with a lacquer or clear coat finish applied over it.

Woody

[the_sandy_creek_forge]

Favorite finishes for a project:
1). Brass brush hot with a coat of clear coat / varnish / beeswax
2). Straight beeswax, applied hot and then polished with a CLEAN buffing wheel

There is an effect that i have seen and really like (but have not tried), it's a kind of chemical copper coat that is left to oxidize and then sealed, so you get the dark steel color and the light blue oxidized copper color.

I am also growing somewhat fond of the Gilder's (sp?) Paste finishes with a clear powder coat, and might end up trying them out soon.

[StephanFowler]

I tried out just straight "Minwax" wax paste polish, applied hot, several coats until a good dark patina is achieved, I'll let you know how it wears, but seems to do well so far

[Marc]

I color in different ways depending on the look I want.
- Brass brush on black heat
- Wire brush on my angle grinder to get it shiny
- Manual wire brush to leave it "natural"
- Scotch-brite pad to buff out high spots to get definition
- A light coating, more like an over-spray,of some colored Rustoleum, for color
- Temper colors
- Good, old, flat, matte, or satin finish black paint
- Whatever strikes my fancy.

Then, on top of that, I tend to use Rustoleum clear matte. For indoor pieces, that does a nice job of keeping the underlying color while giving it a decent coating. That stuff dries very quickly, which is a nice benefit in a multi-use shop with no space for a paint booth.

I've also used Penetrol for a glossier finish. That takes longer to dry, but it seems to give a clearer finish.

For outside stuff, I've really only done some shop door strap hinges and went with a primer of cold zinc galvanizing and satin black Rustoleum on top of that. It's only been two years up here in NH, but not signs of any rust at all so far.

[JerryCarroll]

I've been using Future brand acrylic floor finish for several years on inside stuff after preping (scaling--degreasing) with excellent results. Outside I use an automotive brand of acid etching primer with what ever color is wanted/needed.

[Víctor Zamora]

I´ve used old motor oil immersion after torch some pieces (not visible red, just well heated), then rub it with a soft rag.

[frogvalley]

In order of preference/amount of usage.
1.Clear Gloss Rustoleum-my favorite, shows all the details and works great in or out for years. Great silver black finish over mostly descaled work. Very artsy if you ask me. Reasonably chip resistant, quick drying, polyurethane is better against chipping but takes forever to dry. Most used for my sculptural work, in or out of doors. By far the most used finish here, ten to one over the others.
2. Boiled linseed oil, cold application, air dried- for triangles/dinner bells or hooks and whatnot..
3. boiled linseed oil, heat dried in forge or oven depending, or hot applied and heat dried. Hooks and stuff.
4. Vegetable oil, hot applied, or even baked on- several coats, best for the functional bowls that I make , you can eat out of it like seasoned cast iron pans and you can easily re-apply.
5.beeswax, hot applied, two coats,
6. beeswax and linseed oil mixed, hot applied, two coats, also reasonably edible for eating utensils
7. Gloss black, flat black, other colors of rustoleum over appropriate primer. Tend to hide detail. My least favorite as it is not that much more durable than the above finishes but is a multiple application with many coats. 2 primer, 3 finish for spraying, one and two for brush applied. I use- volume wise- almost as much as the clear, but thats because the jobs that tend to need this finish are custom gates and fencing, bigger single jobs rather than individual sculptures or art pieces.
8. Powder coating- NEVER. Don't even get started on that one.

[Ezra]

O.K.
Here's a newbie question about it.
On page 92 of "Wayne Goddard's $50 Dollar Knife Shop", there is a picture of two Damascus letter openers.
They have an almost glossy green finish. Beautiful in my opinion.
How did he do that? What about other colors? Red for example...
Sorry if this has been discussed at length before, but it's all new to me.
Ideas or opinions please.
Thanks!

[Woody]

Ezra, I have no idea since I have not seen the picture, may be some sort of guilders paste finish.

Woody

[Ron Hicks]

Some good ideas I need to try a few
I dont know If its right but been using Johnsons Patse Wax after clean up get a reall good black heat and wipe on the wax. Ill do this a few times, ends up looking kinda like a blued finish.

Now If you want that glopey clumps of goo look use the foam pad that come in the wax- dont ask why I know