How to produce a rust finish on custom iron furniture

A. I doubt the "rust finish" you are looking for is actually rust. As you have discovered, iron oxide is not a durable material and will break off. It will also be very rough - not at all nice to sit down on. Perhaps they are looking for rust-colored paint?

A. Hello Michael,

I think what you might be looking for is a ferric nitrate patina. Indeed, it wouldn't be very durable, but after you knock off the loose scale and seal the patina with a clear coat, you shouldn't have too many problems with your customers. Besides, they're the ones who that are buying rusty furniture, I'd guess it would be their own fault if they get rust on their pant bottoms! Good luck finding a rust colored paint, look in finishing.com's literature section for the patina books.

Sincerely,

A. Hello,

I would try a diluted FeCl3 rinse after degreasing (no solvent). Let it rest (rust) for some time, then rinse with demineralised water and apply a topcoat (varnish).

Best regards,

A. Hello -
Do not, I repeat, do not 'rust' your furniture. Not only is playing with acids dangerous, but so is rusty furniture. as mentioned above, rust is a very brittle substance, and would not do very well.

Corrosion (rusting, oxidation) is an electrochemical process. by applying acid (liquid with a charge), you're increasing the natural voltage of the iron, and are encouraging the Fe²⁺ cation to mingle with dissolved oxygen. this will degrade your furniture by pitting, cracking, etc. the first place that will go are at inconsistent material joints. for example, if you have anything containing copper, zinc, aluminum, etc. you won't for long...

A. I would highly suggest using a sub-base with very small amounts of iron. if you want 'actual' rust, you want as little as possible (<1-5%). when iron corrodes, the rust is about 100x bigger than the iron particle, so you'll see it. run a fine grit sandpaper over the sub-base, and apply an ANTI CORROSION clear coat (always with iron).

A. Maybe what everyone wants is the brown iron look. They use this finish on western spurs and bit. I was looking on this site for information on how to do that patina. It makes the metal brown without causing any structural weakening.

A. Being a landscaper I use liquid iron/instant rust on concrete and fibreglass statues because its doesn't alter the structure and you can have it as rusty as you want.

A. Real rust paint is available and there are good pages on how to apply this process. Just search under rusting paint.

A. I came up with this method when I needed to match some old nails on a crate. Soaked them in vinegar (or a stronger acid) to remove galvanizing. Then dropped them into a jar of Hydrogen Peroxide (3%) and added an equal amount of Regular old Laundry Bleach and agitated. The nails looked 100 years old within 10 seconds (really). I guess the combination of an oxidizer (the bleach) and a source of Oxygen (the peroxide) sped up the rusting process drastically.

A. I have experimented with good results following the process below on my Toyota Hilux pickup to achieve a 'rusted and aged' look

- key the painted panel by sanding with typically 180 grit paper
- spray on a clear matte lacquer
- dust/cover the lacquer - whilst the lacquer is still wet, with iron powder
- once the lacquer has dried mix a blend of vinegar and bleach and then brush this over the iron powder which is now 'stuck' on the dried surface of the lacquer
- apply heat via heat lamp or low temp oven and rust will appear.

The beauty of this is that you are rusting an additional coating on top of the already coated metal thus you are not degrading the structural integrity of the panel

I have successfully done this this to truck panels, plastic wing mirror casings and fiberglass panels

Hope this helps

Check out the products that are sold by Modern Masters.
They have some rust oxidizing paint and rust activators, also many different blue and green patinas. I think a place called hardware world sell the stuff for a reasonable price
It goes a long ways.

You could also try "Brutal Rust". It rusted my projects within one hour.

Thanks George, Paula. But readers: to the maximum extent practical, please share ideas, technical tips & generic solutions, and enjoy the camaraderie of your peers, rather than recommending particular brands or sources. Free sites like this one can't exist unless supported by advertisers, and "testimonials" chase them away; they also encourage "comment spam" (people posting for the sake of commissions), and they encourage shills to pose as satisfied customers and post fictitious glowing reviews of their own products :-)

Regards,

Hi,

You can also use Rust-Oleum Stops Rust Multi-Color Textured Rustic Umber Spray Paint. It gives rust like finish. This paint can be applied on wood, metal, concrete, masonry and more.

Praveen Soni
- Rajasthan, India
September 23, 2016