I've got a customer who has a reasonable list of jobs for me to do, but he wants everything to look aged, as though it's been there a century or more, even internal brackets, etc...

 

What would be the best way of achieving this?

Been there a century or more, maintained? or unmaintained? Being that you live in england, I can't Imagine  much would be left after a hundred years without, at least some paint occasionally slapped on. If he's looking for pitted, you can just be real sloppy with your heats and achieve that as you make it. If'n you you want the "years of oxidation" etch, throw everything in to a bucket of dilute muriatic for a full night, then without rinsing toss it outside for a couple days. then neutralize, and wax( or give it a dilutated paint wash, for effect. Really it all depends on the look you are trying to achive. Hope this helps, Matt  

I am told the antique forgers leave things in a compost pile or dung heap to achieve the 'distressed' look.

 

Reverse electrolysis will age and pit ironwork. I image any sort of active chemical bath that reaches all the nooks and crannies will even things out.

If he's after stuff that fits in with things of that age, in the UK, you'd likely need to make it out of wrought iron.  

Thanks guys.

I was thinking about acid bath, so i will give the muriatic a go

I have used Auburn Rust sold by Triple S Steel.  It leaves a very nice patina.  I would still use the acid bath to remove all of the scale and then after a good cleaning use the Auburn Rust.  It has worked very well for me.  I welded a new top on a beat up Mouse Hole anvil and this is what I used to finish the project.  It is the last picture that I posted in the gallery.  I am just not smart enough to post it.  Good luck.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37998-img-0448/

 

Okay, I finally got it figured out. 

Here is the pic of the finished anvil.

Looking at this now, I think I may follow up and do the same thing to the chain.

Good luck,

Jerry

looks like new rust to me; the old stuff tends to be darker.

 

If you want pitting very coarse salt sprinkled on a piece can help,  You may also want to experiment with soaking a cleaned piece in very strong tea---save all your leaves for a week or too and them boil them up for a couple of hours and immerse a piece overnight.  Mine looked "fuzzy" the next morning but when washed under a flowing tap the fuzz slipped off leaving a dark surface.

 

Also using old scrap metal that is pitted can help as is using a rough faced hammer and pitted anvil face.

Reverse electrolysis, like John McPherson said, will work without the cost or hazards of acid, and it will be less expensive. Washing soda and water and a battery charger an easy route.

ok yes, i'd like to avoid acid as much as possible so i think i will try the reverse electrolysis, we have a battery charger on site 

Careful, with reverse electrolysis.  It works a dandy to rust metal so don't leave it in too long!  

 

 

These are the rust-encrusted sacrificial anodes from my last de-rusting.  They look like they've been under the ocean waves for a few thousand years, and didn't get any better looking once dried!!

 

To be fair, this is the result of accumulated rust being pulled off the cathode and stuck to the anode, much like growing a coral reef.

 

 

Sodium hypochlorite aka bleach works well to get something rusted and pitted. "Splatter" full concentration on the piece. Covering it with plastic or putting it in a bag will accelerate the process. Give it some time to work. Wire brush the piece and "mist" it over the entire piece. Let it sit again. Neutralize and lightly wire brush. Some experimentation with time and/or dilution to get the desired look, may be needed. 

I'm new to smithing but not to working with metal, used to do some metal sculpture and we always sprayed vinegar on finished pieces to hurry "aging" along.  As one poster mentioned coarse salt helps too, I have done sprinkled salt followed by sprayed on vinegar before, which worked well.  Vinegar's a heckuva lot more corrosive than most people think!

depending on the look required and the size of the pieces I have used a cement mixer with sand and gravel in it, if you know someone with a mixer put away that was not cleaned this will put that right at the same time

For rust patina I use:

 

(16 oz)  Hydrogen Peroxide

 

(2 oz) White vinegar

 

(1/2) Tbsp Salt

 

I heat the part with a heat gun until warm and then spray the solution on.  Let dry and repeat until I get the desired look.

 

That's how I did my truss plates and strap hinges on the shop.  This picture was from a couple months ago, the metal has now gotten dark like I wanted.  I'm planning on applying oil to the steel shortly.

 

I use reverse electrolysis and make items look like they are 200 years old in about 3 days. Get a plastic stock tank baking soda and a battery charger. Do a goog search on electrical etching. Nothing else even comes close to this method other that mother nature an she takes her sweet time.

This "3/16 HRS after about 3 days and some masking.