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Default Patina on brass?

OK, so I'm delving into an area that I know little about now...
DECORATING. Weekend before last, SWMBO and I ran up to this salvage
place and found a door for my bedroom closet, along with some doorknobs
and rosettes to match the rest of the house. Now in the rest of the
house, where I've been replacing wiring devices, I've been replacing
them with white Decora, per SWMBO. However, my own personal tastes are
a little more conservative; the little bedroom is MY ROOM and I'm doing
it up old school, with an Oriental rug and as much as I can, fixtures
roughly appropriate to the age of the house (1948.) I've already
located some of the real deal .040" thick brass receptacle and switch
plates with the nice crisp corners, and the wiring devices in that room
will be brown as would be typical. (never mind that this particular
house is, um, inexpensive enough that it would likely have had ribbed
Bakelite or other plastic plates, I'm exercising a little artistic
license here.)

Question is this. Some well meaning sort polished and lacquered the
plates for me already, and the knobs will have to be polished before
they are installed as they were lacquered as well but the lacquer wore
off in some places and is crazing in others. The brass in the rest of
the house (appears to have been originally unlacquered) has a nice brown
patina which SWMBO says she likes better than bright brass, and I tend
to agree with her. Is there some easy chemical means to acquire such a
patina, or should I just strip everything and polish it bright, install
it, and ignore it for a couple decades?

Sidebar question - the rosettes I picked up were brass plated steel. Is
this something that one could re-electroplate at home, or would it be
best to send them to a professional plating shop? I do have the
capability to electrolytically derust them and also have the ability to
buff them if a copper undercoat is required. The sum total of my
knowledge of plating is due entirely to my experience restoring old
cars, where I just send stuff off to the chrome shop (well, I did have
two little emblems gold electroplated for my '62 Stude hardtop, as
reproductions were not available, but I paid someone to do that as well.)

thanks,

nate

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replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
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Default Patina on brass?

Next time (if there is a next time), you might want to just buy the
finish you want to begin with. Lots of companies sell "antiqued"
brass hardware - this one, for example:
http://houseofantiquehardware.com/s....gory.139124/.f

I've used them for window locks and sash lifts, as well as one door
lockset and a set of hinges. I've never bought their receptacle or
switch plates but I'm sure they're just as good. I don't ever think
chemical aging looks really real (truly antique brass patinas
unevenly, whereas the chemical stuff is always a little too perfect),
but you're probably not going to do any better yourself than just
buying something that's pre-finished. And you'll save the time and
effort.

- Jeff
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Default Patina on brass?

On Feb 11, 6:29*pm, Nate Nagel wrote:

Question is this. *Some well meaning sort polished and lacquered the
plates for me already, and the knobs will have to be polished before
they are installed as they were lacquered as well but the lacquer wore
off in some places and is crazing in others. *The brass in the rest of
the house (appears to have been originally unlacquered) has a nice brown
patina which SWMBO says she likes better than bright brass, and I tend
to agree with her. *Is there some easy chemical means to acquire such a
patina, or should I just strip everything and polish it bright, install
it, and ignore it for a couple decades?


You may have a little difficulty with the lacquer, but I put a nice
brown patina
on some cheap brass hooks by exposing them to vinegar fumes for a day
or two.

Cindy Hamilton
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Default Patina on brass?

On Feb 11, 11:41*pm, wrote:
Next time (if there is a next time), you might want to just buy the
finish you want to begin with. *Lots of companies sell "antiqued"
brass hardware - this one, for example:http://houseofantiquehardware.com/s....gory.139124/.f

I've used them for window locks and sash lifts, as well as one door
lockset and a set of hinges. *I've never bought their receptacle or
switch plates but I'm sure they're just as good. *I don't ever think
chemical aging looks really real (truly antique brass patinas
unevenly, whereas the chemical stuff is always a little too perfect),
but you're probably not going to do any better yourself than just
buying something that's pre-finished. *And you'll save the time and
effort.

- Jeff


I'm sure you're right, but I think I priced the covers I wanted at
rejuvenation and they were about $25 apiece; at less than $5 ea. on
fleaBay for the real deal vintage ones I will accept a less than
perfect finish A $5 box of screws from McMaster-Carr and I'm
done...

I don't think stripping the lacquer will be a problem; I've got the
technology at my disposal to handle that.

thanks to all for their comments, it looks like I've got some ideas to
try.

nate
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Default Patina on brass?

On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:29:43 -0500, Nate Nagel wrote:
to agree with her. Is there some easy chemical means to acquire such a
patina, or should I just strip everything and polish it bright, install
it, and ignore it for a couple decades?


It only takes a year or two for the bright to disappear. Of course the
patina will continue to develop for many years. I'd strip the lacquer,
see how they look, and probably not polish except on the ones that were
really spotty. The chemical patinas never look right to me. Sometimes
they look good, but they don't look right.

sdb
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Default Patina on brass?

On Feb 11, 5:29 pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
OK, so I'm delving into an area that I know little about now...
DECORATING. Weekend before last, SWMBO and I ran up to this salvage
place and found a door for my bedroom closet, along with some doorknobs
and rosettes to match the rest of the house. Now in the rest of the
house, where I've been replacing wiring devices, I've been replacing
them with white Decora, per SWMBO. However, my own personal tastes are
a little more conservative; the little bedroom is MY ROOM and I'm doing
it up old school, with an Oriental rug and as much as I can, fixtures
roughly appropriate to the age of the house (1948.) I've already
located some of the real deal .040" thick brass receptacle and switch
plates with the nice crisp corners, and the wiring devices in that room
will be brown as would be typical. (never mind that this particular
house is, um, inexpensive enough that it would likely have had ribbed
Bakelite or other plastic plates, I'm exercising a little artistic
license here.)

Question is this. Some well meaning sort polished and lacquered the
plates for me already, and the knobs will have to be polished before
they are installed as they were lacquered as well but the lacquer wore
off in some places and is crazing in others. The brass in the rest of
the house (appears to have been originally unlacquered) has a nice brown
patina which SWMBO says she likes better than bright brass, and I tend
to agree with her. Is there some easy chemical means to acquire such a
patina, or should I just strip everything and polish it bright, install
it, and ignore it for a couple decades?

Sidebar question - the rosettes I picked up were brass plated steel. Is
this something that one could re-electroplate at home, or would it be
best to send them to a professional plating shop? I do have the
capability to electrolytically derust them and also have the ability to
buff them if a copper undercoat is required. The sum total of my
knowledge of plating is due entirely to my experience restoring old
cars, where I just send stuff off to the chrome shop (well, I did have
two little emblems gold electroplated for my '62 Stude hardtop, as
reproductions were not available, but I paid someone to do that as well.)

thanks,

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel


I'd like to know how to get that patina too. Have you tried anything
yet? The only DIY suggestion I saw in the discussion so far is
vinegar fumes. One other idea is to visit or call a stained-glass
shop (one that sells supplies for making your own pieces) - they sell
solutions for patina-ing metals, although I don't know if they would
have one specifically to make the brass brown.
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Default Patina on brass?

Heathcliff wrote:
On Feb 11, 5:29 pm, Nate Nagel wrote:

OK, so I'm delving into an area that I know little about now...
DECORATING. Weekend before last, SWMBO and I ran up to this salvage
place and found a door for my bedroom closet, along with some doorknobs
and rosettes to match the rest of the house. Now in the rest of the
house, where I've been replacing wiring devices, I've been replacing
them with white Decora, per SWMBO. However, my own personal tastes are
a little more conservative; the little bedroom is MY ROOM and I'm doing
it up old school, with an Oriental rug and as much as I can, fixtures
roughly appropriate to the age of the house (1948.) I've already
located some of the real deal .040" thick brass receptacle and switch
plates with the nice crisp corners, and the wiring devices in that room
will be brown as would be typical. (never mind that this particular
house is, um, inexpensive enough that it would likely have had ribbed
Bakelite or other plastic plates, I'm exercising a little artistic
license here.)

Question is this. Some well meaning sort polished and lacquered the
plates for me already, and the knobs will have to be polished before
they are installed as they were lacquered as well but the lacquer wore
off in some places and is crazing in others. The brass in the rest of
the house (appears to have been originally unlacquered) has a nice brown
patina which SWMBO says she likes better than bright brass, and I tend
to agree with her. Is there some easy chemical means to acquire such a
patina, or should I just strip everything and polish it bright, install
it, and ignore it for a couple decades?

Sidebar question - the rosettes I picked up were brass plated steel. Is
this something that one could re-electroplate at home, or would it be
best to send them to a professional plating shop? I do have the
capability to electrolytically derust them and also have the ability to
buff them if a copper undercoat is required. The sum total of my
knowledge of plating is due entirely to my experience restoring old
cars, where I just send stuff off to the chrome shop (well, I did have
two little emblems gold electroplated for my '62 Stude hardtop, as
reproductions were not available, but I paid someone to do that as well.)

thanks,

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel



I'd like to know how to get that patina too. Have you tried anything
yet? The only DIY suggestion I saw in the discussion so far is
vinegar fumes. One other idea is to visit or call a stained-glass
shop (one that sells supplies for making your own pieces) - they sell
solutions for patina-ing metals, although I don't know if they would
have one specifically to make the brass brown.


Oh hell no. they arrived on a weeknight Between work and weather
(and it didn't help that the primaries were today) I haven't even had
time to get the lacquer off of them yet. Just trying to plan my moves
for the next time I have free time...

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel
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Default Patina on brass?

Question is this. *Some well meaning sort polished and lacquered the
plates for me already, and the knobs will have to be polished before
they are installed as they were lacquered as well but the lacquer wore
off in some places and is crazing in others. *The brass in the rest of
the house (appears to have been originally unlacquered) has a nice brown
patina which SWMBO says she likes better than bright brass, and I tend
to agree with her. *Is there some easy chemical means to acquire such a
patina, or should I just strip everything and polish it bright, install
it, and ignore it for a couple decades?


I built a wine cabinet and ordered a brass grate for it and did not
like the shiny look. So I took a sample and started rooting through
the hoards of chemicals I had laying around for one project or
another, and I also bought a patina chemical from Lee Valley. The
patina chemical, which was not a very large quantity, was expensive.

But then I ran across a bottle of etching solution used for making
your own circuit boards. The chemical is Ferric Chloride, and is
probably available from Radio Shack. If not, check out www.digikey.com.

Using gloves I dipped a rag into the FeCl2 (or is it Fe2Cl?), and
rubbed it on the brass. IMMEDIATELY turned dark. Once I darkened it
completely, I rinsed under water to neutralize the chemical. Then I
took a buffing cloth to give the brass highlights. Worked great.

You can see a b4 and after he

http://www.areddy.net/wood/wine%20cabinet/index.htm

Scroll way to the right in the images and you'll see the virgin brass,
then after the patina.

Or

Befo
http://www.areddy.net/wood/wine%20ca...s/DSC00713.jpg

After:
http://www.areddy.net/wood/wine%20ca...s/DSC00724.jpg
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Default Patina on brass?

Heathcliff wrote:

On Feb 11, 5:29 pm, Nate Nagel wrote:
OK, so I'm delving into an area that I know little about now...
DECORATING. Weekend before last, SWMBO and I ran up to this salvage
place and found a door for my bedroom closet, along with some doorknobs
and rosettes to match the rest of the house. Now in the rest of the
house, where I've been replacing wiring devices, I've been replacing
them with white Decora, per SWMBO. However, my own personal tastes are
a little more conservative; the little bedroom is MY ROOM and I'm doing
it up old school, with an Oriental rug and as much as I can, fixtures
roughly appropriate to the age of the house (1948.) I've already
located some of the real deal .040" thick brass receptacle and switch
plates with the nice crisp corners, and the wiring devices in that room
will be brown as would be typical. (never mind that this particular
house is, um, inexpensive enough that it would likely have had ribbed
Bakelite or other plastic plates, I'm exercising a little artistic
license here.)

Question is this. Some well meaning sort polished and lacquered the
plates for me already, and the knobs will have to be polished before
they are installed as they were lacquered as well but the lacquer wore
off in some places and is crazing in others. The brass in the rest of
the house (appears to have been originally unlacquered) has a nice brown
patina which SWMBO says she likes better than bright brass, and I tend
to agree with her. Is there some easy chemical means to acquire such a
patina, or should I just strip everything and polish it bright, install
it, and ignore it for a couple decades?

Sidebar question - the rosettes I picked up were brass plated steel. Is
this something that one could re-electroplate at home, or would it be
best to send them to a professional plating shop? I do have the
capability to electrolytically derust them and also have the ability to
buff them if a copper undercoat is required. The sum total of my
knowledge of plating is due entirely to my experience restoring old
cars, where I just send stuff off to the chrome shop (well, I did have
two little emblems gold electroplated for my '62 Stude hardtop, as
reproductions were not available, but I paid someone to do that as well.)

thanks,

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.http://members.cox.net/njnagel


I'd like to know how to get that patina too. Have you tried anything
yet? The only DIY suggestion I saw in the discussion so far is
vinegar fumes. One other idea is to visit or call a stained-glass
shop (one that sells supplies for making your own pieces) - they sell
solutions for patina-ing metals, although I don't know if they would
have one specifically to make the brass brown.


The Caswell site I indicated has finishing / patina chemicals in
addition to plating ones. They also have a lot of tech info. Pretty much
everything you'd want to know about metal finishing.
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Default Patina on brass?


Question is this. Some well meaning sort polished and lacquered the
plates for me already, and the knobs will have to be polished before
they are installed as they were lacquered as well but the lacquer wore
off in some places and is crazing in others. The brass in the rest of
the house (appears to have been originally unlacquered) has a nice brown
patina which SWMBO says she likes better than bright brass, and I tend
to agree with her. Is there some easy chemical means to acquire such a
patina, or should I just strip everything and polish it bright, install
it, and ignore it for a couple decades?



I'd like to know how to get that patina too. Have you tried anything
yet? The only DIY suggestion I saw in the discussion so far is
vinegar fumes. One other idea is to visit or call a stained-glass
shop (one that sells supplies for making your own pieces) - they sell
solutions for patina-ing metals, although I don't know if they would
have one specifically to make the brass brown.


You might like to try antiquing liquid from Van Dyke -- comes in
several colors.

http://vandykes.resultspage.com/sear...Darkeners&rk=1
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