tarnishing brass [antiquing]

[bigted]

I know ive read somewhere how to safely antique a brass frame such as on my '58' Remington. but for the life of me I cant find it now.

id like to tarnish my rem revolver frame dark that wont rub off while shooting or cleaning it. I also don't want to take a chance on doing any harm to it either.

any ideas/suggestions will be welcome. this is just too bright and shiny and every time I shoot it the new tarnish just wash's off... would like to make it as dark as possible.

[nhrifle]

Every time I find a fired case that has been lying in wet grass for a few days it has taken on a patina. Might be something to try, just strip off the brass parts and place them in the grass for a few days .

[waksupi]

After shooting, use the patch you first run down the barrel when cleaning, and wipe all brass parts. It won't take long to get what you are looking for. Just repeat each time you clean.

[bigted]

After shooting, use the patch you first run down the barrel when cleaning, and wipe all brass parts. It won't take long to get what you are looking for. Just repeat each time you clean.

hey bubba...and this will not wash off?

[waksupi]

No, it will patina the brass, and it takes some serious polishing to bring it back to bright again. It will need several applications, but works. I've been doing it to patchboxes and other parts on rifles for decades. I hate shiney brass, too.

[bigted]

cool ...ill give er a try...thanks fir the tip.

[Hellgate]

Dittos for what waksupi said: use the bore fouling to do the tarnishing. Just look where fouling gets onto the brass frame and it is a brown color. Whenever I shoot BP in my brass cartridges they develop a patina unless I use brass polishing compound in my tumbler to remove it. My brasser Colts have the patina wherever the fouling builds up.

[Hanshi]

Brass tarnishes super easy. Normal shooting and use will do it in no time.

[KCSO]

Bill Large used B/P fouling and urine to do the job but I skipped the urine part. Waksupi has it on the nose just follow his instructions.

[DeanWinchester]

Sweaty hands work too. Just paw all over it and don't wipe it off.

[izzyjoe]

Brass tarnishes super easy. Normal shooting and use will do it in no time.
that's the way i'd do it!

[Dean D.]

I believe ammonia will blacken brass. My wife found a recipe for doing so on a metalsmithing forum. I'm at work but I can check later if anyone is interested in a specific recipe.

*EDIT* I checked with my wife and she has been using Liver of Sulfur to get an "Antique" patina on brass. Liver of Sulfur is normally used to blacken silver but seems to work on brass if just a bit slower acting. You can buy Liver of Sulfur from any Lapidary/Jeweler supply store or website.

[Hellgate]

I have bottle of Brass Black from Birchwood Casey which I use to mark my brass by weight categories. I suspect it is a bluing formula because it has the slight blue color of copper sulfate I see in bluing compounds. You could also use the Birchwood Casey solution.

[KyBill]

Glad I ran across this topic . I was gong to buy some brass black and try it for tarnishing . Duh as many times as I wiped my ole Brass frame pistol down thought I would of put 2 & 2 together .sometimes I end up with 3. KyBill

[pietro]

.

I've used cold blue on brass to good effect - a light coat has the brass looking like CCH, more turns it blacker than night.

Laquer thinner must first be used, to remove any clearcoat or other factory coating on the brass.



.

[Outpost75]

I always wiped my brass furniture on my musket and with a dirty patch wet with water and black powder fouling and after a few years had the greatest patina you would ever want to see! Does a great job on browning bright barrels too. Yes, you can skip the urine. Bill Large was eccentric....

[nekshot]

when I want an instant old look on shiny brass I wet it with cold blue , I like oxpho the best for this and after it is set for a little rub it real good with cloth and if not tarnished enough repeat the process. It is not as good as the dirty patch trick but it sure speeds up the aged look.
nekshot