Rust finish

[HWooldridge]

Johnny99,

Thanks for the input. I tried S. Willis' formula on a test piece and got a nice dark brown (like an old gun barrel) in three applications of the vinegar/salt/peroxide mix followed by the bleach. The bleach really makes it fire off quickly so I'm thinking Clorox over your acid mix would also speed up the rust process.

I'm due to finish this piece in about 4 weeks and the customer wants a "500 year old" look so I'm going to rust and card it until the finish has an aged patina.

[Innovational Iron]

A Ferric Nitrate/Ferric Chloride + water mix (or either of the two by itself) will rust steel in a heatbeat. These chemicals are easier on your squirt bottle as well and will not eat up the internal spring for quite some time. (unlike the solutions with salt) No hazardous chemicals to deal with either. My pieces regularly go from bare steel, to patina, to Permalac in just a few hours. Leave some scale on as well for color depth.

[Woody]

Matt: "No Hazardous Chemicals to Deal with??????????????????" Ferric Nitrate is an Oxidizer and Ferric Chloride is an Acid. Check the following Hazardous Chemical Data Base.

The Chemical Database

[Innovational Iron]

No decon needed with these chemicals. I guess I should rephrase that sentence and define what I meant by "hazardous". The previous formulas were using muriatic (HCL) and thats a far more aggressive acid than Ferric Chloride. There is no need to use an acid like HCL just to get a rust finish.