How to: Oil Rub Bronze, p2

A. Hi Sean.

The current finish is nickel plating or nickel-chrome plating, which can't be darkened with things like liver of sulfur. You could try coating the parts with a tinted lacquer but I don't think you'll like the looks, or reliability of the finish adhering and wearing well and, considering the intricacy, the possibility of just gumming up the works.

I think you'll need to send them to a plating shop for stripping of the existing nickel and chrome plating, followed by copper plating, and antiquing. The only problem with that is it probably will cost a lot more than you'd like. If you wish, please reply 'quote please' or something like that.

Regards,

A. Hello,
My family has owned and operated a highly regarded custom metal finishing facility in the NYC area for the past 100+ years. I myself have been working in it for almost 40 years.
I just happened to stumble across your thread of posts. Without sounding pedantic, I thought I'd do a public service and try to help you all a bit without hurting my own industry.
(A) almost all metal finishing should be done by professionals. It is difficult, dangerous and dirty business. It involves nasty chemicals. In your cases things like methelyene chloride (common in hardware store paint and lacquer removers) and selenium (common in oxidizers). These and many others not only are health hazards when you breathe them, but also can soak into your skin and deposit in your liver.
(B) Also, homeowners are not regulated, they send 100% of there nasty refuse into the landfills,septic systems, oceans and sewer systems. in my industry we are not allowed to let any metal or chemicals go down the drain and into the sewers. The amount of something as benign as copper (for example) that goes down the drain when your mom scrubs a copper pot would get me a huge fine from the DEC.

Now that the scolding is done, I'll send a separate e-mail with some advise that might help.

A. Hi Keith. Trophy engravers get that jet black color on brass with selenium dioxide; I don't know if it works on copper, but suspect that it will.

It is certainly possible to copper plate, blacken, and clear coat steel railing posts, but usually this is done in a plating shop rather than in the field -- and the cost might be prohibitive.Regards,

A. Keith, liver of sulfur sprayed onto heated brass will turn black. Also, you can rust steel with cupric chloride then spray brown tinted lacquer over result and looks just like ORBronze

A. Hi Andrew. That looks very much like copper plating with a blackening treatment followed by a clearcoat, and it looks quite beautiful and expensive.

But here's the thing: as soon as someone is likely to say that, there is great motivation for a company to provide a powder coating with an antiquing stain that looks very similar but costs much less, so as to ride the coat tails of the more expensive finish :-)

That's just the way it is with decorative finishes: ever cheaper imitations. Personally, I actually think it is powder coating with a wiped on stain. I'd rather not say exactly why I think that's what it is, because on the next version they'll try to address our reservations to make a cheaper finish visually indistinguishable from the finish it is imitating. :-)Regards,

A. Hi Amar. Here in the USA virtually everyone uses proprietary processes, so the answer would be to contact your plating process supplier for the necessary chemistry. In India, the situation seems more mixed, with many shops relying on proprietaries, but many others doing home-brew. I think one of the things you'll want to do for dull brass is to skip the nickel plating or other undercoating used for bright brass, and just apply a heavy layer of brass plating. This can be darkened with liver of sulfur, gun bluing solutions, or proprietaries. Finally, you probably want to clearcoat it with a two-component automotive clearcoat, or an e-coating, or a matte brass lacquer. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Jeffrey. With a properly applied rugged clearcoat -- probably a 2-component automotive clearcoat -- the oil rubbed bronze will have pretty good durability. Finishing.com did a corrosion study for ILZRO/IZA a couple of years ago and an antique bronzed finish with clearcoat performed very well.

Regards,

A. Hi Melissa. I don't think paint will have enough durability for a kitchen sink, what with pots banging round and all. But Alicia or others might have suggestions.

Regards,

A. Hi Elvia. Theoretically, you could buff the part back to a scratch-free shine, then use a brass darkening solution ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] , then apply an automotive clearcoat.

But have you done any metal finishing as a hobby or craft? Because a crafter would practice the technique on scrap a half dozen times before attempting it on their actual art. Unfortunately, the idea that a person with no prior finishing experience can do a proper and robust decorative finish on a difficult item like this on their first try is questionable; sorry.

Regards,

A. A comment about oil rubbed bronze finishes. First My experience and knowledge of this finish type comes from a former work experience as a technical support engineer for a major U.S. door hardware manufacturer. Oil rubbed bronze is an example of what is called an unstable finish, the oil eventually is depleted or worn off, causing the bronze to patina and turn green. This is normal and anyone wishing to have this hardware look like it did when new will be disappointed. It was never designed to remain in the original installed condition! Scrubbing the green off is only real damage if the bronze layer is a plated type and has also been worn through to the underling base metal. If the bronze metal is still present time will "heal" this "damage" as the green will reform over time, which will be shorter than the original as the oil is not present.
Bright Bronze or brass finishes can be maintained by applying a good clear NON ABRASIVE type car wax ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] 1 or more times a year depending on environment and usage. this wont work on oil rubbed.