trying to find a steel antiquing liquid

blgoode

blgoode

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Messages
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Well..I have brownells cold bluing...

Is there a blackening fluid as well?

Will this work on brass?
 
You can get Brass Black from places like Texas Knife Supply. I have a bottel but have not used it yet. I have used Tool Black from MSC and have been very happy with how dark it gets compare to products like PermaBlue. Hope that helps. Mark
 
You may be able to find Brass Black locally. Gun stores and large sporting goods stores might have it. I got some at a gun/knife show. Seems to be more of a paint than anything else.
 
I may just try some stewed tomatoes ;)

I saw something at Daniel Winklers shop labled pewter blackening or somthing to that effect...he blackens his blades for an antique look and was hopeing to find something similar.....
 
If you are trying to age Brass, look at Chucks post regarding his process to age the brass on his new hawk. You can also hang it over some ammonia in a sealed container and let the fumes do their thing.

For the steel, you can use Aquafortis and give it a boiling water bath. This will give you a very nice Charcoal like blue/black.
 
thanks everyone....Sometimes with knife making its like......my head wants to explode with all this info :D :eek: :D
 
Put on your cold bluing and then soak in bleach for 5 minute intervals - that's how I etch all my blades. It will make it a dark gray/black/blue - sand it down some to give it a true aged look. After looking at literally thousands of old aged knives and gun barrels this is the best way I've found to get a true aged look.

And most cold blues will darken brass - although I've found a mix of various chemicals gives it the best patina. Real old worn brass gets a nice golden hue with green/blue tints and some black in the corners. Wash with muriatic and then follow with cold blue while it's still wet - wipe off the excess.

When getting a "true" aged patina I've found that there really is no one coat magic wonder formula - it takes several applications and lots of hand rubbing. Also it works best on a 4/0 steel wool finish rather than a high buff.

Of course just about any acidic liquid - onion juice, vinegar, lemon, etc. will stain/etch carbon steel.

http://www.sculptnouveau.com/traditional.html has several patina formulas both cold and hot.

PS According to a good source Daniel W ages/etches his blades with muriatic acid - I've found clorox to actually work better dependent on the steel - mainly 5160 and the 10xx series.
 
so I blue before the etch? I was thinking blue after.....but like you said, multiple combinations work best. I do remember Daniel mentioning muratic acid. He also mentioned clorox bleach with a fish tank pump to agitate the solution.

Do I want to dilute the bleach?

Is one part ferric to 3 parts water a good dilution ratio for ferric?
 
1) Yes - while the blue is still wet rub with 4/0 steel wool to smooth and even it - then soak in the clorox - no dilution. I use one of those plastic sweater boxes and set the blade on it's back or hold it off the bottom with a piece of brass.

2) Soak for 5 minute intervals and then wash off and scrub down with steel wool - this will leave it very dark (when it first comes out of the bath it will look like a rusty nightmare.) 5 minutes normally gives a light surface etch. 10 minutes light pitting and etch, 15+ minutes gets into fairly heavy pitting. On ce I'm satisfied with the amount of aging I scrub all the excess rust off with steel wool and then wash thoroughly - use a brillo pad (has TSP in the soap) or soak in a baking soda solution to kill the etchant. After that I rub down with 4/0 steel wool if I wan tit dark or a fine scotch brite pad to get it brighter - a more true used but cared for aged look really. Never had to agitate the clorox - the blue/clorox makes for a VERY aggressive etchant. Clorox alone will do it but it takes longer - an hour or two at least to get the same effect.

Hope that helps...
 
one more thing on this.....

When I put slab handles on a full tang blade, can I antique the tang area to match the rest of the blade? Will ferric / bluing / bleach hurt the wood if I try apply it to the area left finished from shaping the handle? This seems to be one of those....hum, now what steps

If the wood will be damaged how do I mask off the wood to protect it?
 
Just make sure the wood is sealed good Brian.If you want some extra assurance you could use masking tape along the tang. Just make sure you have a good tang-to-wood seal or the ferric could creep underneath the scales and come back to haunt you.
 
I use alot of epoxy when glueing up handles so I hope thats sealer enough. I was worried that the blueing or bleech would hurt or discolor the wood to where sanding wouldnt get it out.

Thanks Big M
 
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