Question: How to patina the brass handles on the knife I've made and engraved... ?

[Dani Girl]

Hi Everyone.

I have just made this knife with brass handles and I am almost finished engraving it, but I would like some advice on how to antique/paint/patina the background.

As far as I know there is no alternative to lacquer to stop it from tarnishing... but I don't want to lacquer it.

Any ideas or comments would be much appreciated. Also any ideas constructive criticism always appreciated. Hope you like it.

Thankyou.

Danae.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Very nice knife

You could always try something like Brasso (non abrasive brass cleaner). It's available at just about any supermarket. That will polish the highlights and get into all the crevices and make them black. To reduce the chances of the brass discolouring you can use Renaissance wax after the Brasso.

However, any handling will make the knife tarnish no matter what you use. Even lacquer will wear off.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Nice engraving on this knife I'm doing a similar brass one, so yes I'm interested in the treatment after its finished.
I have tried cold blue for guns to make the cuts look a bit darker, it does but like Andrew suggest there are probably better products to make it look older

arnaud

 

[Willem Parel]

Maybe for Danae it is a bit difficult to order but Arnaud you can order something here that colours brass very easy.
http://www.zujeddeloh.de/artikel567.html
It is ment for darkening guns etc. but I noticed that it darkens many more metals.
I put a little on the brass plate and look what it does, and you can't wipe it of easely so in the deeper parts it will stay very good.

 

[Willem Parel]

Very nice knife Danae, I like the scrollwork very much but the background is very well done as well.
Is it done with a GRS, Lindsay or Ensett? because it is done so very crisp and clear.

When I took a second look it seems to me it's done with a ball burr, right?

 

[Dani Girl]

All the cutting is a Lindsay palm control... and the background was taken out with a rotary pneumatic dental tool called nsk presto which is really fast but doesn't have a lot of torque, not that you need it at 320,000rpm. Carbide ball burs, round for taking out the background, inverted cone for script, and diamond for really hard metal or glass. Great tool to have for this purpose... cheaper electric version can be used for this too and work well, also more versatile with doing tiny stuff like inside rings at low speed with torque... sorry, I'm probably boring you by now and getting off subject. Thanks for posting Willem.
Regards, Danae

 

[Sam]

That is very nice work, Danae. What really stands out (aside from the beautiful composition) are the sidewalls of your cuts. They are very pronounced and give great depth and character to the engraving. I hope all the newbie engravers take notice of this!

Excellent engraving and I'll be waiting to see it after patina. :clapping:

 

[Marrinan]

Danae, Very nice work. Crisp clean cutting. Very well done background. Nice design with well constructed design. As for your question on darkening, check with your jewelry supply houses for brass patina. The major brand here in the US is MIDAS. There is a wide variety of products that will effect brass. Rio Grande.com catalog page 544. Congratulations on a fine looking project and thanks for sharing, Fred

 

[mrthe]

Very nice work!

 

[Dani Girl]

Wow... Thanks Sam. That was probably the part I was paying the most attention to while engraving as I have neglected it in the past and regretted it. I learned from your dvds about how to do that and it helped so much... so thankyou.

Danae.

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

I'd suggest Birchwood Casey Brass Black and then polish the high areas with a Sunshine cloth followed by Renaissance Wax as Andrew mentioned.

 

[Eugene Carkoski]

look good to me just the way it is

 

[Southern Custom]

Danae,
I'll give you 2 nice methods to color the knife. The first is the easiest. Use Brownells (or any other brand) cold bluing solution. Warm the knife up and put the bluing solution on with a cotton ball or q-tips. Once it dries, oil it and then go over the top with either fine abrasive paper, scotch brite or steel wool, to give the raised portion highlights. this will make the knife look as if it has been well handled for 50 years with a really warm glow.
The next is to take a quarter cup of ammonia in a tea kettle. Clean the surface of the knife extremely well so free it of oils. Bring it all outdoors and away from people. Well ventilated area. Put on a resperator. Bring the ammonia to boil, and when the kettle starts to steam, wave the clean knife in the steam for about 5 seconds. Wear rubber gloves. Finish the same as the last method.
Both of these mimic natural aging on brass.
Layne Z.

 

[rod]

What Sam says, 100 percent, Danae!

Very very nice.

I think a very light wipe with dilute nitric acid, followed by immediate wash in water, will give a patina without darkening the brass, but let me check that out today in my workshop. I use nitric acid all the time. Will post any useful results.

Rod

 

[silverchip]

I have used liver of sulfur like you do for antiquing Silver.followed by printer ink to reinforce the black. After using the sulfur solution , polish off the excess with a pink pearl eraser then apply the ink thinned out with lighter fluid,let it dry and remove the excess ink with your finger. After cleaning the ink off use a sunshine cloth to polish the bright metal and it will look like a million bucks,it looks pretty good just like it is though!!!!

 

[Dani Girl]

So the cold bluing solution would mimic the effect of ageing while the ammonia effect would actually be how it would turn out after a long period of time? The ammonia meathod being more toxic but about as easy? I'm completely unfamiliar with bluing so if anyone's got the time can you tell me about it? I am liking the idea of using a meathod that will produce the same effect that's going to happen to it anyway over a long long time. That way it will look cool and not change. I've got lots of engraved brass practice plates so keep throwing up ideas and I'll try as many of them as i can manage.

Luckily i have at my disposal, largely thanks to my dad, renaissance wax, sunshine cloths, nitric acid, citric acid, ferric chloride, brasso, linseed oil... etc.

 

[dlilazteca]

What method did you use to do the background?

Carlos De La O III

 

[Dani Girl]

What method did you use to do the background?

Carlos De La O III

Refer to my post in the middle of the last page, nsk presto, rotary ball bur (carbide is my favorite, more versatile). Cheaper electrical version would work fine though... you can set yourself up with one of those for $100 easy. Nice tool. Most important thing is good burs.

 

[dlilazteca]

Perfect I have a rotary tool what size bur did you use

Carlos De La O III

 

[Dani Girl]

Sorry for delay getting back to you. The bur i used for this job is larger than i would usually use, for most jobs a little smaller than this one would be better. Hope this helps.