Forced patina on brass?...

birdave

birdave

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Has anyone tried a forced patina on brass? Mustard, maybe?
I tried a product called Brass Black and it gave me a crackled texture, somewhat, but the black rubbed right off.
Open for suggestions, thanks for your time and for any info. you may be able to provide.
Stay safe, birdave.
 
Hot water, or latex paint fumes in an enclosed space. Rubbing against your skin can remove the patina pretty easily, fyi. Maybe try a coat of Renaissance Wax after the forced patina?
 
Oxpho cold blue gives a nice look. Takes a few applications with fine steel wool between. Fairly durable to ordinary handling. Can be easily removed with fine sand paper.
 
Just handling the brass or carrying it in your pocket will get the oxide going very quickly on brass. It's a lot more tedious to prevent patina from forming on brass. It just happens, and will continue to morph/change with more use & handling, no matter what's done to force it initially.

Brass might hold patina more readily, if the surface is textured fairly coarsely first by rough sanding, engraving, etc. The patina in the recesses of the texturing would be a little less prone to just rubbing off.
 
Thanks guys for the suggestions.
Your help and time is appreciated.
Stay safe, birdave.
 
How dark do you want it? Birchwood Casey Super Blue will give brass anywhere from a very dark brown to almost black appearance, depending on the exact alloy, and it is fairly durable (certainly won't just rub right off). I suppose if you wanted a more traditional light brown/tan looking patina you could blue the surface and lightly steel wool it down to the shade you want, though I haven't tried that.
 
G. Scott H.,
I was hoping to get a black finish on the brass. I've got a bottle of Oxpho cold blue coming. I tried the Birchwood Casey Brass Black and wasn't impressed at all! It rubbed right off at the slightest touch. If you leave it on the brass for 20 minutes, you'll get a "crackle" slightly etched pattern. However, as for getting the brass black with Brass Black, I wouldn't recommend the stuff. Based on my experience with Brass Black, I'm hesitant to try another product by the same manufacturer.

Thanks for weighing in, it's appreciated. Stay safe.
 
Any finish you put on the brass is just a surface finish. The only durable black coating you can do is a nitride coating.
You may as well paint the part.
I can't understand why people want to change the natural color of metals. Plating metals is a different story.
 
Bill,
Thanks for weighing in.
I buffed out the brass to a high polish and will most likely stay with that.
I've been told that brass can be Cerakoted, however as I've never seen any that has, I'm not banking on it.
As I don't know about nitride coating, I'll have to research it to become familiar with the process, if nothing else.
Thanks again, stay safe.
 
I like the natural patina brass acquires. I do give my Buck Custom Shop 112 a polish once in a while, though.
 
birdave said:
G. Scott H.,
I was hoping to get a black finish on the brass. I've got a bottle of Oxpho cold blue coming. I tried the Birchwood Casey Brass Black and wasn't impressed at all! It rubbed right off at the slightest touch. If you leave it on the brass for 20 minutes, you'll get a "crackle" slightly etched pattern. However, as for getting the brass black with Brass Black, I wouldn't recommend the stuff. Based on my experience with Brass Black, I'm hesitant to try another product by the same manufacturer.

Thanks for weighing in, it's appreciated. Stay safe.
Click to expand...
Did you clean it really well ?

I've seen people get good results with the stuff but I don't know what their method was.

They were using it on vintage Sheridan and vintage Benjamin airguns, I don't know the particular alloys either companies used ( I just know how to reseal and shoot the hell out of 'em ) but I've seen decent results.
Maybe not quite as good as the original Black nickel finish, but not bad.
 
Hickory n steel,
Parts were cleaned VERY well. I'll try the Oxpho, when it gets here, on the back of the brass inserts, in a small area and see what happens. Right now they're buffed to a high polish and I may leave them that way. Thanks for weighing in, it's appreciated. Stay safe.
 
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