In article ,
"Harold and Susan Vordos" wrote:

"Jerry Foster" wrote in message
. com...
I have several ideas on this, but I'm sure some other folks have better
ones.

An artist friend of mine asked how to impart a "rust" patina to a welded
steel sculpture. The object in question is made of steel rod/tubing and
is
MIG welded together. It is too big to dip in any ordinary container, but
small enough that one man can handle it easily.

I suppose he could wash it in something like laquer thinner and leave it
outside (heavy dew, misty rain, etc. this time of the year). Or maybe
spray
it with some mild acid...

Ideas?

Thanks,

Jerry

No big deal! Go to any of the large hardware stores and buy a gallon of
hydrochloric (muriatic) acid and dilute maybe 1 part acid to 5 parts water.
Using a spray device, cover the entire thing. It will etch the surface and
start rusting immediately. Rinse after it's been on for a while, so it
doesn't leave a deposit behind. The nice part is this acid is very
inexpensive. Be certain to wear rubber gloves and eye protection, and don't
breath the fumes when you open the container. It does serious damage to
lungs, but once diluted with water, it isn't all that bad. This is the
same acid that is used to wash brick.

Harold



And etch concrete, and balance swimming pool and eyedrop pH, and digest
your dinner, and...

I've always been amused by the folks that go all squickoid over the idea
of having a bottle of HCl on hand. Yeah, it can be vicious stuff. But
like anything else, if you treat it right, you won't get "bit". And
unlike some other things I can think of, unless you *REALLY* get bit
hard (drink it, splatter it in your eyes at high concentrations, inhale
a lungful of fumes and start coughing up bloody gobs, etc - Catastrophic
screwups, in other words) HCL is usually amenable to a quick trip to the
shower with the baking soda in hand.

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