How to: Oil Rub Bronze

A. Never clear coat on humid days, unless you have heated up a closed room. Also, I may heat the part with a torch at a distance, then clear, wait two minutes to see if the coating clears out the murky effect. Once in awhile I can torch it from a distance after the lacquer and the murky disappears.

I found the best spray SATIN clear lacquer at KMart. By Dutch Boy, Satin Lacquer(3-4 bucks a can)...it is the best. I have tried all others, but this one seem to give me the best results. I buy boxes when ever I can. Never use their glossy lacquer. I found another brand to be better.

Another thing, we glass bead all the raw pieces and then go to a dull copper (cyanide) Low current, then antique, rinse, and antique again. This gives us a red oil-rub bronze. It took me months to figure that the antique, RINSE, and antique again was crucial to get a uniform antiquing. For an olive version, we glass bead, brass plate, antique, rinse, antique.
Others believe in doing a satin finish(mechanical polishing)before the plating process, but not me. I think it is a waste of time, I prefer just glass beading the raw parts before going to the plating processes.

Drying is also important. Very sensitive finish. I have the employees dry the hook, and the wire, and the part immediately. No pussy footing around when doing this job. One water drops leaves a big stain. They also use latex gloves for handling.

We hand rub the part clean. Then depending for the desire effect, we use scotch brite pads or #0000 steel wool ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] . 0000, 000, 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 steel wool grades ... stock all of them.

Also, many companies use wax or mineral oil to seal the oil-rub bronze finish instead of lacquer...satin lacquer.

Note: Commercial Oil-Rub Bronze has nothing to do with Oil, Rubbing, or Bronze...funny.
Oil-rub bronze comes from the art sculpture field.

A. While you could perhaps retain an experienced metal working artist to do this for you, an alternative that some people would not recognize is that some plating jobshops can do this kind of refinishing for you. You could theoretically darken the brass with liver of sulfur ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] , but it's toxic and noxious, will only work if the brass is free of lacquer and clearcoat, and the result may not be what you wanted anyway.

A. To my eye, oil rubbed bronze is a brown-black finish with copper showing through at the corners and wear areas. The brass can be made brown to black with brass darkening solution ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] or liver of sulfur, and can be relieved back to brass color at the corners and wear areas. It might at least be somewhat close -- but even that would require some skill or artistry.

A. Hi, Walid. Yes, stainless steel can be electroplated with various metals including copper so that it can be made to look antique bronze.Regards,

Self-etching Primer Spray

on eBay or

Amazon

(affil links)

A. Hi, Merry. Alicia has described what's involved, and I don't think it's very realistic to consider such a complicated industrial process (involving cyanide-based electroplating) a D-I-Y project :-)However, it is possible to prime the metal with a self-etching primer for good adhesion .
then paint it with copper colored paint, then paint it with a brown-black paint, rubbing it away from the corners and high spots to give an oil-rubbed bronze look.Even simpler, although probably without the highlights, would be Rust-Oleum "American Accents" Oil-Rubbed Bronze spray paint .

Regards,

A. The question is, to make bright brass look like oil-rubbed?
The answer is too easy. Strip the lacquer finish with any good stripper, wash with soap and water, wipe with denatured alcohol (no fingerprints). Then the easy part, wipe with gun blue until you get the darkness you want. My first try was two wipes and you can't tell it from the one I was matching.

A. Hi, Fay.

No metals are inherently black so I unfortunately don't know which you are referring to. They could already be painted black, they could be black oxided steel, they could be brass that is plated black, they could be dyed aluminum, or a number of other things. The brass color . . . do you know that this item is actually made of solid brass?

Sorry, but the problem in such projects is that, while most metal things can rather easily be painted, to try to react a metal with a reagent to cause it to turn a certain color is not possible when you don't know what the metal is and the finish that is on it. With consumer items, you almost never know. Sorry! It's a bit like asking what you need to add to this white powder to make a cake when you don't know if the powder is flour or arsenic :-)

If you can find out exactly what the fixture is made from, we might be able to suggest reagents. Lacking that, please consider a dark wax rub (Rub n Buff ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] ). Good luck!

Regards,

A. Jumped on this late but my 2 cents on oil rubbed bronze. My firm specializes with metal restoration and specifically in bronze

Alicia, you are correct that Oil Rubbed Bronze is from the art sculptor world however there are many commercial bronze projects that are bronze rubbed and oiled. Two that stick out are many areas of Rockefeller Center that are a oil rubbed bronze spec (US10B). Where the metal is chemically oxidized to a brown/black color and rubbed with oil either mineral oil or bronze oil. It is usually toweled dry to minimize runoff but enough is left on to slow the oxidation process from continuing. If the oil is maintained you can go years without having to re-oxidize.
There are many suppliers of chemical agents that can be used however since this is my first post I am not sure if we can throw out names in posts.

The other major oil rubbed bronze commercial project is the Seagrams building on park avenue where the curtain wall from roof down to grade is a US10B finish and historically has been oiled down approximately once per year. Unfortunately I believe that some painting has occurred on the lower level

For bronze that has been damaged, it can all be oxidized using cold chemical process in the field to different levels of color. If you truly are dealing with oil rubbed bronze you would not want to apply a lacquer finish on top of the oil.

 Thanks so much for your very knowledgable contribution, and interesting examples, Bill. The look of oil rubbed bronze is very popular today, and the most authentic application methods may not be appropriate for every situation.

For example, consumer products for the kitchen and bathroom often involve daily handling and are often copper plated diecastings or steel rather than solid copper; these require a clearcoat or lacquer even though that prevents a "living finish" and renders them not quite authentic oil rubbed bronze.

Yes, thanks for not mentioning company names (why?) :-)Regards,

A. Hi, Mindy. Oil rubbed bronze may not be appropriate for a sliding ladder. When things slide along each other and wear against each other, you need robust metal surfaces. Oil rubbed bronze is usually lacquered (which is soft). The coloration is thin and will scratch right off. It's probably not an appropriate finish for outdoors if that was your intention.