I've had some repair work done on an old Stanley 47 cast iron dado plane that goes back to about 1890 that I'm hopefully going to be using at a local museum as a "demonstrating" plane.
We used 55% nickel/steel welding rod, and the repairs have been ground flush and overall, a fairly decent repair job. But I'd like to take the shine off the repairs and let time darken the metal around them to make it less obvious. I'm keeping this plane as one of my own "users". I'm not worried about someone getting confused and paying more for the plane than it's worth - that'll be long after I'm gone, and any collector will still be able to spot the repairs. But I would like the repairs to be invisible from five feet away, if that makes sense to all of you.
Any processes/compounds to darken nickel? Any help would be appreciated.
regards,
Matt Turner Turner Racing Shells Ltd.