brown patina on cast iron/steel

[bridger berdel]

in a moment of self indulgence I ordered a woodriver #1 plane. that and a 5-1/4 are the only gaps in my bench plane cabinet. at the moment it holds 2,3,4,4-1/2,5,5-1/2,6, 7, 8 and a 10. I think I can probably shoehorn in a 5-1/4. the 1 will fit fine.

I don't "need" every size, but at some point I got within stone throwing distance of having them all, and kind of let myself keep going. they aren't a matched set by any means, and I'm fine with that. the 2 is really early, and a family piece. the 4 is actually a MF #9. the 10 is a modern plastic handle thing that has taken quite a bit of work to get into user shape. the rest are probably between type 9 and type 18 or so. I haven't bothered to type them.

what they have in common is that nice comfortable brown patina. the WR #1 is going to come in shiny. I guess I can let it age on it's own, but for various reasons I'd like it to be more in keeping with it's cabinet-mates.

anyone here have an appropriate patina formula?

[Marko Milisavljevic]

Leave your fingerprints on it, wipe it with a damp cloth and let it sit around for a few days. Then use a rust eraser to fix it. Repeat a few times and it'll be just like old.

[Jim Koepke]

You might try a gun shop. They use a material for browning just like for blueing.

jtk

[Dave Beauchesne]

Like Jim's reply, browning is available, but it would look unnatural IMHO. I browned a muzzle loader I built from a kit- it looks OK on a gun, but a plane? Let time do its thing is my suggestion.
YMMV.

[Hilton Ralphs]

Like Jim's reply, browning is available, but it would look unnatural IMHO. I browned a muzzle loader I built from a kit- it looks OK on a gun, but a plane? Let time do its thing is my suggestion.


Birchwood Casey sells something called Plum Brown and this picture from Lee Valley (http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=71689&cat=1,250,43298) shows the effect rather well.


313529

[Tom Stenzel]

Early this spring we had a wet warm front move through the area. In 24 hours the tools in my garage rusted more than they had the previous 12 months. The cheap Buck Brothers plane that I leave out in the garage rusted right through the Boshield T-9!

My suggestion if you really want to rust it: Clean all the iron you want to rust, make sure there's something on the sole to protect it. On a hot humid day, take the plane and put it in the freezer and get it good and cold. Then take it out and leave it. In short order you'll have more "patina" than you'll know what to do with!

Edit: I know how to turn the rust switch to 'on', dunno how to turn it off when you see what you want. Be careful.

Cue the start of a new thread- How do I remove rust from a WR #1....

:D

-Tom

[Stew Denton]

Bridger,

I have been trying to clean off rust and patina off of my planes, but everyone to their own, and I know that there are plenty on this board that prefer the patina.

True browning, like the old muzzle loaders had, and I think like you can probably get from Brownell's, might work for you. The trouble with flash rusting, as is described above, is that it is not very controllable and it is not even. The flash rusting I have seen is not an incredibly thin extremely even and flat surface coating like true patina that takes years to form. Instead it is uneven with zillions of tiny rust blooms. These will continue to spread and corrode the cast iron or steel if allowed to remain on the surface of the material.

True patina is very thin and uniform, and seems to protect the cast iron from further corrosion.

For those reasons, I would not go for flash rusting, and instead would consider the browning as some of the folks above have suggested.

Stew

[Mel Miller]

That gun browning produces a rough rusty surface. Not what I would want for a plane.

[Stanley Covington]

The chemicals used for browning muzzleloaders will work fine. Brownells sells them as does Track of the Wolf. The Pilkington product Brownells sells is very good, but pricey.

Browning was not really used as a finish, but developed naturally over time. This can be seen by looking at areas underneath the stock old guns. You will notice that areas protected from weather and fingerprints were originally bright and untreated.

You can make your own browning fluid using nitric acid, water, and chrome-free iron (not that easy to find nowadays). I don't remember the ratio of water to acid, and high molar nitric acid is dangerous stuff (always add acid to water in tiny increments , NOT water to acid). With the focus on terrorism and IED"s nowadays, you probably can't buy high-molar nitric acid at a chemical supply house anymore unless you have a business account with them. The acid should be nearly neutralized, and contain a lot of dissolved iron.

The way to prevent a rough surface and deep rust pits is to use light coats of the chemical, and to maintain adequate humidity. However, any condensation on the surface will allow the chemical to eat pits.

Be sure to degrease the surface very very thoroughly first.

The chemical should create a smooth velvety coat of rust on the surface after 4 or five hours, depending on temp and humidity. Brush this lightly with a carding brush (Brownells) to remove the velvet, but without brushing all the way through to expose bright metal, and repeat the treatment process until the desired finish is obtained. Neutralize it with water and baking soda and give it a coat of oil after drying and warming to drive off moisture.

If you you go one step further and boil or steam the coat of rust each time, it will form a blackish, very hard iron oxide compound that is very durable. When done correctly, a file has a difficult time cutting the surface. For centuries, this was the premium finish for guns and other steel products that needed a hard, durable finish. Hot-bluing is nothing more than decoration by comparison. Works great on planes and saws too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluing_%28steel%29#Rust_bluing

Stan

[bridger berdel]

The #1 came in today. Did a bit of setup and put it to work. It came with a modern non-chipbreaking cap iron. It took a bit of work to reshape the front edge to set close. the cap iron is a bit on the short side but by setting the frog way forward and relieving the wear I was able to achieve a nice cutting geometry. It's kind of fun to run a double iron plane that small.

[David M Anderson]

Glad you like your new plane.
My hobby is restoring old hand planes. At first was picking up rust buckets and bringing them back to life again, so to speak.
The patina your looking for takes time, use a mild degrease r..dish soap works good.
Your plane was probably shipped with a protective substance.
Thoroughly dry the degrease parts, hair dryer will hasten the process.

Without any protection, wax or oil the cast iron will discolor on it own.
Even the oils from your hands will hasten the patina to develop.
Might even cause some CSI spots...finger prints.

[Stew Denton]

Stan,

My thinking is more like yours. The old muzzle loaders that I have seen at gun shows, and reproductions that have been browned properly, using the stuff from Brownell's, etc., have not been rusted, rough, and pitted. To my eye, they have looked pretty good, but perhaps more browned than the patina I see on some of the old planes and chisels I have bought. I think your idea of using light coats until the desired color is obtained is the way to go.

Stew

[Tom M King]

Just use it for 35 years, and it will look like this shoulder plane that I bought new. http://www.historic-house-restoration.com/images/gaugingproperlevel.JPG