On Jan 9, 12:34*am, "SteveB" wrote:
I want to make some hinges and stuff that look old, but are not. *Could I
take chisels and the round end of a ball peen hammer, and other striking
devices and make marks on the metal cold, or should I heat and soften it
first?

Steve

I examined the latches and hinges in my sister's ~1790 house to make
copies and didn't see any dents or scratches. They aren't exposed to
abuse on the door. We grew up in a house built in 1830 and saw the
same thing, the original metalwork was well made with smooth surfaces
and no evidence of impact damage.

I approximated the look of original hardware by angle-grinding flat
surfaces to give them a slight ripple or curvature, just enough that
they no longer reflect light evenly. The edges were beveled freehand
with a bench grinder and file. I heated the finished parts red,
quenched in used motor oil and wire-brushed the loose material off.
The smith who made the originals had a better eye for form and
proportion than I do, but otherwise they were hard to tell apart.

Jim Wilkins