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

[Dani Girl]

Just ordered a bottle of Birchwood casey black... I'll try it and a few other meathods on some scraps before i try it on the knife... Thanks for the suggestion. Regards, Danae.

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

 

[Martin Strolz]

You can darken the scales with "Gravoxid". It is poisonous, so be careful. This is you local supplier:

GRAVOGRAPH AUSTRALIA
Unit 3, 7-11 South Street
RYDALMERE N.S.W. 2116
T: +61/29684 2400 - F: +61/29684 2500
sales@gravograph.com.au


http://www.gravograph.com/australia/engraving-products/engravers-supplies.php

 

[randolfengraving]

Hi Danae, I have a book called japanese patina's and it has all different types of treatments for obtaining different colors. If you know what color you would like maybe I could send you the formula from the book! RJ

 

[Willem Parel]

This might be a helpfull link as well in the future
http://www.sciencecompany.com/Patina-Formulas-for-Brass-Bronze-and-Copper-W160.aspx

 

[James Roettger]

I would be concerned if using a chemical agent to darken it that the upper areas would also get darkened. This darkening could go deep into the surface and require damaging abrasive work to highlight it back up again. I suppose one could carefully paint the background. In any case I would expect the agent to penetrate the surface and go into the metal some depth. On something like this my favorite patina agent is time itself. Great work.

 

[Dani Girl]

Has anyone ever tried this? It's a paint more than a chemical reaction so i am thinking this meathod wouldn't wear the engraving when I have to sand/buff off the top to make it shiny again... this way i'd just wipe off the top... but i don't know how it will look yet... going to have lots of fun trying different things.

Danae.

 

[Dani Girl]

I am thinking the verdigras finish would be cool but i don't know what all the others look like. In the japanese book what ingredients would one need to do the patina.

Danae.

 

[DKanger]

Somebody just asked this same question on another forum, so I had the formulas handy. There are two methods to achieve the color you want on brass. Both are recipes used by professional craftsmen for eons.

#1
3 oz Potassium bitartrate (cream of tartar)
1 oz Ammonium chloride
7.5 oz Copper nitrate
3 oz Sodium chloride (non-iodized table salt)
13 oz boiling water

Dissolve the salts in the boiling water and apply the hot solution to the brass with a swab or piece of sponge. When the desired effect has been attained, wash and dry. This is the fast method.

#2
3 oz Copper carbonate
1 oz Ammonium chloride
1 oz Copper acetate
1 oz Potassium bitartrate
8 oz Strong vinegar

Dissolve the salts in the vinegar and paint the object daily with the solution for 3-4 days. This is the slow method.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Yes a lot of info on blackening brass. I have another product meant for blackening Tin. My dad used it for darkening the tin of his Tiffany glass. It looks green and it also blackens silver.
I just put it on the brass using a cotton bud and waiting a few minutes. Then washed it with water and soap and polished the highlights using a leather on a board.

arnaud

 

[dlilazteca]

Yes a lot of info on blackening brass. I have another product meant for blackening Tin. My dad used it for darkening the tin of his Tiffany glass. It looks green and it also blackens silver.
I just put it on the brass using a cotton bud and waiting a few minutes. Then washed it with water and soap and polished the highlights using a leather.

What is this secret solution that use?



Carlos De La O III

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Carlos, I do not know what is in the bottle, only that it is green and that I have to shake it as it contains something that needs to dissolved.
The good thing is probably that you can find it in a Hobby shop for Tiffany glass
Here is the shop my dad ordered it. http://www.tiffany.be

And, yes, now I see, the blackening fluid on the link looks blue, probably my dad's one is that old it turned out green.

arnaud

 

[Weldon47]

Dani,

Obviously, there a bunch of ways to go about this..... So, Here's what I do:
I use fingerprint ink. It comes in a tube like toothpaste, the kind made for squirting out on block at the Police station.
I rub it into the engraving with a toothbrush (yes, an old one), then wipe off the excess with a paper towel. Heat will drive out most of the oil.

Weldon

 

[Fruchey]

I know there have been a bunch of replies and great ideas and options already posted, but here is one more; I used some products from this web sight http://www.sculptnouveau.com/. The patinas on this sight are made for bronze brass and copper and i believe there are some for steel and iron as well. There are quite a few options for different colors and also an antiquing patina to make the metal look old. I used the patinas a little bit for a bronze casting class a while ago and was pretty satisfied with them.
There is my two cents hopefully this helps.

 

[Dani Girl]

Am i allowed to put up a link to my facebook page on here?

 

[Dani Girl]

I just got on ebay and ordered a tube of fingerprint ink to play with.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Dani,

Obviously, there a bunch of ways to go about this..... So, Here's what I do:
I use fingerprint ink. It comes in a tube like toothpaste, the kind made for squirting out on block at the Police station.
I rub it into the engraving with a toothbrush (yes, an old one), then wipe off the excess with a paper towel. Heat will drive out most of the oil.

Weldon

 

[Weldon47]

It's a mess but....it sure does antique engraving well!

WL

 

[Dani Girl]

I have been using Speedball oil based block printing ink for blackening my engraving so far. It works great for fine lines... I wipe off most of it but leave it really messy then wipe off the surface mess that's left with paper so that it doesn't get wiped out of any of the cuts. it's worked great for me so far. However with large background areas you'll see a bit of shine that's undesirable which is where flat black paint and other alternatives is better. I didn't want the stark contrast of the black on this job though because of the sheer amount of background I think the patina will be cool. Looking forward to my mail orders to come in so i can start playing. Will borrow some brasso from work and try that Tuesday. Will post again when I have some results to show. Does anyone else have any results pictures from your engraving with different finishes/patinas?

 

[Willem Parel]

Am i allowed to put up a link to my facebook page on here?

If Sam has a caption " Join me on Facebook" I think it's allowed.....

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Yes Dani, you can have a link to your Facebook page. Lots of people do.

The great part about playing with patinas is that you can easily polish them off and try something else if you don't like it.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[tsterling]

I didn't want the stark contrast of the black on this job though because of the sheer amount of background I think the patina will be cool.

I remember someone on the forums (can't remember who) said they used dark brown or maybe umber oil paints when darkening the background on gold (and I assume on other yellow metals) for a warmer and less stark contrast.

Tom