Hi I'm looking for a cold finish solution for a large chandelier i just finished building. 

Usually I apply either bees wax or linseed oil to smaller pieces of work while they are hot, this chandelier is far too big to do this efficiently.  So i'm looking for something which I can apply to work cold.

 

The person who commissioned the chandelier wants a 'traditional' finish so ideally I'm looking for something i can make up which can be applied to an unheated chandelier.  Is is possible that I can simply paint it with a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine?

 

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

 

Nate

I read some time ago in an old book that creosote and coal oil mixed made a natural stove black. I have never uses it but I want to give it a try sometime.

What a toxic mix!

I like watco dark walnut wood finish...Apply with a rag and let dry...do a sample piece to see if you like it.

Wondering if stove black would work?  Has anyone used stove black for this sort of thing?

I make my own beeswax, turps & linseed oil wax that goes on cold & gives a nice traditional looking finish. You most often see people say to use equal measures of the 3 ingredients but I like to make it a tad heavier on the beeswax side.

Mix equal measures of turps & linseed oil, melt the beeswax then pour in the fluids & mix like crazy to stop it separating in clumps. Keep the mix warm until you've finished mixing or the beeswax will set. A little goes a long way.

We use Guilders Paste from dickblick.com.

Colors can be mixed and/or coated over. Makes forged work look great.

John

I like Johnson's paste wax almost as much as I like Treewax. Treewax is carnuba and is the stuff they armor bowling alleys with. Either goes on warm iron much better than room temp, a little heating with a heat gun or blow drier will do it. Either dries hard and doesn't rub off unless you really work at it and it'll polish nicely before you can get any off.

 

I have a mix of paraffin wax, turps and Neatsfoot oil that goes on well, hardens up well and is long lasting. I have the same mix using bees wax instead of paraffin and the finish is a little softer but nice.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks for all your suggestions!

 

I made up some of the beeswax, turps, linseed mix and has been working really well, but I would like to make it darker.

When I paint it on it remains fairly clear with a slight 'tint', I'm looking for a much darker brown/black look. 

 

Can I add something else to color it?

 

Thanks!

lamp black will help though it will still be on the surface, a little russeting may help

Oldstyle wax based shoe polish; artists oil based tinting colours; putting the first coat on too hot and leating the wax burn off leaving a carbon film, temper colouring the base steel, lots of ways to get a darker colour!

Great! Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

I use linseed oil, turps and jappan dryer.

linseed and turps 50/50 and a healthy pour of jappan dryer.

I keep it in a small mouth can. keep it sealed at all times. the jappan dryer is just that a drying agent and will evaporate out of your can if not sealed.

then I use either johnsons past wax or a carnuba based wax over it. this will darken it some, but not like a hot oil finish.

it dries quick and works well inside. for instance if you were finishing a 6' rail, the beginning will be dry when you finish the end.

apply a couple of coats.

if you mix say a pint of each turps and linseed oil with a "healthy" pour you will not ever have a tacky finish in the summer heat, even if it were outside in the sun.

you should be able to get it at the same place you get the other stuff.

The easist thing to do would be to use an iron/steel blackener and a carnuba based paste wax over top of it. Sculpt nouveau sells it, or jax, or chemcity, or probably, on your side of the pond any, distributor  of harbison-walker products. It's a cold blackening aqueous solution, dilute and spray it on with a pump sprayer and your good to go.Take care , Matt

Birchwood Technologies Presto Black Gel work well for me for large furniture parts, if you want a black finish. I really like the Japanese Brown from Sculpt Nouveau, a really nice brown, and their Clear Guard in matte finish is very good product as well. I like turp / linseed oil and bees wax too, as long as I can heat the part up which on large items can be a lot of trouble. Good luck.