On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 01:02:12 GMT, " snipped-for-privacy@sprynet.com" wrote:
||Rich-in-WA wrote: ||> ||> I'm a first-time poster here, so go easy on me. I'm getting ready to ||> fabricate some steel hardware for a timber frame home we're just ||> breaking ground on. These pieces will be machined and welded from bar ||> and plate stock. Most will have planished surfaces achieved by ||> careful hand work with a ball peen hammer. This hardware will mainly ||> be used inside, but a few pieces will be on the exterior, tucked up ||> under a 4-foot eve (i.e. they'll see condensation and occasional ||> wind-driven rain). ||> I'd like the hardware to have some sort of a blackish/brownish ||> finish, while avoiding large amounts of orange rust bleeding onto the ||> timbers. I'd like to achieve a somewhat mottled appearance, similar ||> to an old piece of cast iron cookwear. I'm after something more ||> natural-looking than paint. In prior projects, I've achieved this ||> sort of finish by coating steel with linseed oil and baking it in the ||> oven for an hour or so. This "baked-oil" finish probably provides a ||> bit of rust protection, but I'm not sure how it would hold up when ||> exposed to the elements over time. Any better ideas... ||> ||> Rich Johnson ||> Camano Island, WA ||> ||> P.S. I mistakingly posted this to alt.rec.crafts.metalworking, prior ||> to posting here. Not sure what kind of response that one will ||> generate... ||let the metal rust and when it does you can go to the auto parts store ||and get a plastic bottle of rust restore liquid.. it is a milkish white ||colored liquid that turns rusty metal black.. i used it on a 75 datsun ||pickup truch under the hood where the battery acid ruined the paint on ||the metal battery tray.. it kept the veh. battery tray black and rust ||free for the next 15 yrs. when i sold it... never did see any more rust ||on that tray... used some last year on an old swing set from the kids... ||cut the swing set for a new wooden swing for adults.... the feet on the ||set was all rusted.. painted over the rust and now they are black.... ||got the stuff at auto zone in the body and fender/paint section.... also ||got it years ago from NAPA, national auto parts store.. its been around ||for years....
That is a very good option. I have used the stuff for years. In the Permatex or Duro brand it is called Extend. Comes in aerosols and bulk. To use it, let the steel rust, remove scale with a wire brush, wipe off dust, apply chemical. Works best if you have a good, uniform layer of rust. Use gun chemicals or try the Clorox method. You will want to treat all surfaces, uncluding the inside of bolt holes, so they may need to be a small amount oversize. Texas Parts Guy