Finishes for Metal

I AM LOOKING FOR A FORMULA OR PROCESS TO COLOUR OR STAIN MILD STEEL A BROWN COLOUR. IT IS A COFFEE TABLE PROJECT WITH VINES AND LEAVES UNDER A GLASS TOP. I HAVE A 20"S MACHINEST MANUEL WITH SOME IDEAS BUT SOME OF THE NEEDED STUFF IS NOW ILLEGAL TO BUY IN CANADA. HOPE SOME OF YOU GUY"S HAVE SOME IDEAS OTHER THAN PAINT. IF THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO I CAN DO THAT BUT WOULD PREFER TO HAVE IT LOOK OLD RATHER THAN "MADE" TO LOOK OLD. THANKS STEVE

Does anyone have a formula for a natural(meaning organic material) rust proof coat to put on iron? I heard of one that had beeswax, turpentine and some other ingredients in it, but I don't know if there are other and/or better options.

i have been using sulfuric acid to reveal the pattern in Damascus steel. i was wondering if any of you had used vinegar and how well does it work. i have to drive 1 hour to get my acid. so i was wondering if any one used vinegar and how well did it work. i do not have any Damascus steel on hand to try it.

Can boiled linseed oil be used for quenching or if you use linseed does it have to be raw? I know you can use it for finishing. Can you dip "warm" metal in it? Thanks!~Eric

Have you ever tried copper plating? I was playing around with some chemicals last week and all my quarters became plated with the copper from the pennies.

I am looking for blackening liquids for my metalwork. I know of birchwood casey and contacted them, I am wondering if there are any others.

I recently got some gilders paste in various colors from AS&P Distribution [[email protected]] and just used it on a few projects. It looks like shoe polish and you can rub it on with your fingers or brush it on. The colors are pretty true and the best part is when it dries (in only a few minutes) you can buff it to smooth out the finish and even get it to shine a little. It works to cover up the grinding/flap disk shine, too. Good stuff and goes a long ways.

I'm looking for solutions for producing a nice, deep rust finish on a fairly large and complex piece. I already use Birchwood Casey's Plum Brown on little stuff but it's too cumbersome for my patience in anything of size. I have heard of using Clorox, ammonia, acid, etc. Old gunsmithing books talk about damp boxes with light bulbs and such but I figure some applied chemical would work better. I tried a muriatic acid solution but the color was not consistent and the acid has to be removed before the finish coat. In a perfect world, I would sandblast all the scale and get a good soft rust going then card it with a soft brush, followed by clear coating with urethane or…

I just finished my first knife (yay!), and I was like, hey, this is a great practice piece, why don't I complete it in every way possible. So I wanted to blue it to prevent detrimental rust and/or corrosion. I heard that you can blue metal by submerging the piece in acid, then transferring it to boiling water after a set ammount of time, usually a couple hours to a couple days depending on various factors. My knife was standard weldable mild stock. I forged it to shape, then ground and planed it as best I could. I then hardened it at a orange heat in water, then annealed it. After polishing it, I dunked it in tetrachloride phosphate and some sort of ammonia and waited abo…

I have started playing around with making jewelry (bracelets) from steel and or other iron based metals and was wondering what advice anyone could give on a finish. I'm looking for something to help keep the shine or fresh look plus, help keep your arm or where ever it's worn from turning green when starting to sweat. Also some time ago some told about a type of finish they use that was used in redoing the finish on cars and such. They used it on there metal work and from what I remember really raved on it. But of course now that I'm interested I can't find the post that told where to get this finish. If anyone knows of what I'm talking about please pass it on. As for …

hello there everyone, I have just finished a series of six decorative forged panels to be installed outside. They are currently being hot dip galvanised and i then plan to apply T wash/ mordant solution to blacken the fresh galvanised surface,wire brush some highlights and then apply an oil of some such, perhaps jade oil. T wash is usually used as a primer on galvanised steel further to a paint finish. if anyone has any experience with using T wash/mordant solution, and especially as a final finish your comments would be greatly appreciated. thaks paul.

Hello, I am wondering what kind of clear coat everyone uses to finish their work? I need to finish two sets of outdoor front-stair railings... want to use a clear coat, to keep the raw iron color. They'll get plenty of use, and see plenty of inclement weather. I would like to use something that will last at least a few years before it needs another maintenance coat. In the past I have read that some professionals prefer brushing on a clean eurethane? I think I would prefer not to use a wax mixture, because in the past I haven't had much luck with that lasting long-term (maybe you know something I don't?) thanks in advance. also very sad/mad to read that frosty g…

Anyone know how to finish steel to look like bronze. I am building a fireplace screen that needs to have a antique bronze finish. Any hep would be apreciated.

Has anyone tried to enamal iron yet? I am going to try using ground glass. If successful, I wish to start using it to make vases, goblets, and coffee cups.

Hello everyone. I need some help with my finishings. I need to know when to apply the finish. Do I heat the piece up after it has been quenched and tempered? Wont that destroy the temper? I have obtained a nice finish (brownish in color)by heating an un tempered piece and applying motor oil. Will the color of hydrogen peroxide be different? Thanks for your help.

Hello All, thanks for your time. I was given about fifty real estate signs from a retired broker. Nice sheet metal but there is paint all over it, and this stuff is near bullet proof! Is there a way to get this sheet clean w/out warping it. I haven't tried the torch yet cuz I want them to stay flat. I tried "Strip-eze".... Forgetaboutit I would rather throw them out than go through that again! I hate to see all that steel go to the scrap just because of some paint! Thank you all

Hi, I'm making a piece of furniture with 'woven' strips of various metals (copper, stainless, bronze etc), I need to preserve the polished finish of the strips, so I'm looking for a coating or something. The other issue is - do I coat before 'weaving' and risk cracking / scraping it while using the prepped materials, or just spray the whole thing when its done and risk missing bits??? Cheers, Al.

iv recently had a request for a damascus shaving razor. iv made razors before, but he wants the blade to be green. how can i turn steel green w/o painting it and w/o messing up the temper?

I've head of beeswax and olive oil together 1:1, but is there anything else that I could use that gives it a nice finish??? I haven't tried that yet, because I still have to get some beeswax. But, any thoughts?

i happen to say this alot on here. im new so please be nice my question is what is "etching"? im also wondering about coloring steel. how can i get different basic colors from a steel, red, blue, green, black etc. and which are possible or not. thank you for your time and help.

Good evening to all, I am a brand new member here and am really excited to find such a great group of collective wisdom in metal! I bet I could spend hours reading all the posts... I make smaller scale ironwork; mostly jewelry pieces. I usually just use the ol' used motor oil patina for my bracelets...sometimes I'll use gunblue. I love the way the highlights shine up from wearing them. But I have a new dilemma: I am trying to come up with a patina that will look like a Black Pearl~ almost iridescent, with a deep look to the color. It also will be next to the skin and cannot rub off (as with my bracelets) as I need it to stay looking like pearls...Black Pearls are no…

im working on a bloody thrusting knife, and i want to give some parts of it a reddish look. any one know a good way to make the steel look red?

When etching damascus with muriatic acid do you dilute it if so by how much.In the past I'v used the PCB etchant from Radio Shack . But muriatic is much cheaper. A.S.T.

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 …

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. …