Antique finishing

it can be done, ASSUMING, its the 'right brass', and not a brass plate.

--Shiva--

Came up in rec.woodworking a couple of days ago - read the thread, ask again if there's anything needs clarifying.

otherwise-

Thanks Andy, I've worked with ammonia for years-know what not to mix it with(just about anything-LOL). No plating is involved here. Thing is -ammonia is getting hard to buy outright-too many druggies using it for pre-cursor. But we will do. Thanks again, goma

The other solution, of course, is to buy brass that's been commercially finished to look older. Most lock and hardware manufacturers offer a variety of finishes from that may range techno-shiny to pseudo-antique. (I've often wished that manufacturers would send out a page of chips with _all_ their various finishes, like paint sample sheets, that we could show customers...)

try buying Iodine as well.. used to be everywhere.. not now..

--Shiva--

Shucks, where I live, the farmers spray the stuff on their fields. Any druggie would only have to sneak up on the tractor parked in the field over night and drain off a quart into a mason jar. (Hopefully they will hit a bump and spill it in their car.)

Actually I kind of doubt that a small quantity of the stuff would cause too much concern. I wonder if the stuff from the grocery store would work albeit a bit slower?

here they steal it-but its a GAS, not a liquid... some guy stole some.. hit a bump in his car and somehow broke the valve open.. he died..

actually it DOES if its strong enough.. REAL nasty stuff..

--Shiva--

That's generally anhydrous ammonia, which is drilled _into_ the ground. The stuff is pretty toxic, so you don't want it above ground.

Tried buying isopropyl alcohol lately ?

That's 25-26%, not .880. It works for fuming oak, not for antiquing brass. It _would_ work for brass over a long enough time, but you'd need a slow mechanical tumbler to keep the box agitated without splashing liquid onto the metal.

No, but at least as of a few months ago they still had it at the drug store (in pint bottles anyway).

OK I yield to your experience in this regard but it seems to me that if someone had the know how to refine their own drugs, separating water from dilute ammonia shouldn't be too tough.

As to your idea about the mechanical tumbler perhaps something like a fish tank air pump could be used to bubble through the weak ammonia and a desiccant could be used to absorb the excess water vapor.

^Here too-Not long ago, some idioit tried to open a tank at a fertilizer place and somehow broke a valve-Sparsely populated area-but nearby snall town had to be evacuated for a while. I have worked with the watered-down ammonia used for cleaning.

antiquing

^So that the fumes of the alcohol would perform the aging process?

Distillation possibly?

There was a truck driver here in town that unpluged a hose without shutting off the valve and doused himself. Thinking quickly he stripped off all his clothes and was standing buck naked in full view of main street hosing himself down.

I doubt it, I think he was making the point about a common solvent used by illegal drug labs.

I am not sure, I am not much of a chemist, but I suspect it is probably not too difficult if one knew his stuff.